When my son (who is now 8) was two years old my husband and I were mortified when we noticed almost all of his teeth seemed to form massive cavities over night regardless of our three time a day fight with him to brush his teeth. After a disappointing visit with his pediatrician I called our family dentist for help. They referred me to Wake Pediatric Dentistry. His first appointment was with Dr. Parrish, who had extremely poor bedside manner with my terrified son. He also had a difficult time speaking to my husband and I in a way that was not condescending. I left the first visit absolutely livid with him. After many agonizing conversations and many nights full of comforting my son who was without a doubt scarred from the visit and still in agonizing pain we made another appointment. I made it extremely clear to the receptionist that he was NOT to see Dr. Parrish again, who is possibly the worst pediatric dentist . The next appointment was set up with Dr. Pretzer. Needless to say all of us were nervous sitting in the waiting room for the second appointment. They came and took my son to the back. After a few minutes (possibly a few seconds) the hygienist came and got my husband and I because they were unable to console him. Dr. Pretzer was sitting in the room with him, talking to him calmly about his favorite animals. My son's dental problems were bad enough to warrant surgery to correct the cavities. Dr. Pretzer was wonderful. He put my husband and I at ease immediately. We called and spoke to him (not a hygienist) several times about our concerns as they came up. After his surgery Dr. Pretzer gave us his personal cell number and asked us to call if we even thought our son was acting unusual after the surgery. He educated us on ways we could help him maintain his beautiful new smile. Dr. Pretzer has been caring for him ever since as well as our two other children. Dr. Pretzer has been seeing our other two children since they cut their first teeth, as a favor to us, to ensure that we would not have the issues with our other children that we did with our oldest. Now,our oldest, our 4 year old son, as well as our 2 year old daughter LOVE going to see Dr. Pretzer and they LOVE the walk to the back without Mommy and Daddy, it makes them feel very independent and it has truly helped them feel more in control of the whole situation. It has also helped them take a more active role in caring for their teeth at home. While Dr. Parrish may be the worst pediatric dentist, Dr. Pretzer is without a doubt the BEST pediatric dentist in the area and my children will not see anyone else. My oldest has decided that he wants to be a dentist like Dr. Pretzer when he grows up so he can help other kids the way Dr. Pretzer has helped him--and that's been his goal since he was three years old. I think it takes a lot for someone like a dentist to make that kind of impression on a child. All of my children as well as my husband and I consider him to be much more than a dentist. We consider him to be an irreplaceable ally in our kids well-being, but more importantly we all consider him our friend.
Pros: home of the best pediatric dentists
Cons: also home of one of the worst pediatric dentists
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