Children's Dentistry of Virginia, PC - Brandermill

We’ve been going here for a few years until a bad experience with Dr Flowers. I took my daughter in for a bump on her gum. He said there was no infection, but the tooth needed to come out. He scheduled the extraction 20 days out (which was the date we had a cleaning scheduled). He assured me there was no need for antibiotics as there was no infection. Two days later, my daughter wakes up in the middle of the night, throwing up from a 104.5 degree fever. We almost took her to the ER. Clearly the fever came from her tooth that was CLEARLY infected. The next day I took her another dentist who immediately prescribed an antibiotic and said she could tell without knowing her history that it was an infection. Dr Flowers was very negligent. The office staff use to be super helpful and friendly, but even that’s change- the one lady I spoke to was so rude she made me cry. I’d suggest not coming here.

I love this place!! My daughter is a new patient and she has a fear of dentist and doctors. The staff were so attentive and friendly. They were able to calm my little one down and make her laugh which is no easy task. I highly recommend bringing your kids here!

Just a note incase you are looking for a new pediatric dentist. If you have a child that is 14 years old, they will not accept them as a patient. Not even with a younger sibling. My son is only 13 turning 14 and I was not able to schedule him. It's so hard to find pediatric dentist in network, let alone one that is local enough to drive- or one that accepts children with special needs.

I have been taking my three kids here forever. They are usually always on it. However today my daughter who was seen for a cleaning and a cavity fill on 2/14/24 developed a what appears to be a abscess on her gum. She won't eat or drink and been crying in pain. I made an apt for 3pm. However due to being sick myself I sent my mother in with my daughter. She checked in and sat in the waiting room. At 3:20 she asked the desk why hadn't she gone back. To find out there was an issue with the insurance. A quick easy fix to my employers HR who fixed it and delta had called the office back to confirm my coverage by 3:50. However they said the appointment window is over and they would not see her. I am completely disappointed in the lack of communication to my mother in regards to why she was waiting. So that I could have fixed it in a timely manner within her window. After being a loyal patient for many years I cannot fathom why the dentist would not just see my daughter to help ease the pain at least until another available appointment.

We did a lot of research & felt confident with our kiddos being seen by Dr. Harman at Children’s Dentistry of Virginia. We were really surprised with how uncomfortable & upsetting our experience has been. Our child was seen end of last August & were told 3 cavities needed filled. We were about to have new dental insurance & were told we needed to wait to schedule until we had new insurance info. Called with new insurance info & were told still couldn’t schedule until we received PA paperwork via snail mail (this took 2 45min phone conversations to sort through). Got the PA & tried to schedule in Nov/Dec but the only date available was our child’s birthday which was also just a few days before Christmas. Said we will take whatever the next available is after child’s birthday, was told by scheduler the doctor said that was a bad parenting choice to wait until January, then told if we were to do January, child would need a re-evaluation and then we could schedule the fillings after that. Child goes in January & we are told the 3 cavities are worse (cavities can get better on their own?!), we should have brought her in sooner (we tried..) & one tooth needs to be pulled, the other 2 need filled, & the only option we have is general anesthesia. My spouse was the one at the appt so when I called that afternoon to get procedure scheduled, I was told the ONLY option we had was general anesthesia because child’s behavior was “plus minus”, when asking what that meant (spouse said child did great & child said it was a fun experience) was told my child was nervous & that necessitated general anesthesia. When asked if I could talk with the doctor to get some questions answered, the scheduler put me on hold several times & came back with some information “from the doctor” but was never able to speak to Dr Harman. I asked if general anesthesia would be almost $1,800 & insurance wouldn’t pay any of it, could that be because general anesthesia wasn’t indicated? I was told by the scheduler that I can pay it up front and then submit a claim to insurance & see if they will reimburse any of it but that they won’t submit anything further. I also asked, if there should be an issue while under general anesthesia, what is the protocol for where our child would be taken for a higher level of care? Was told they didn’t know but in the several years the scheduler had worked there, there had never been an issue & that the anesthesiologist would bring all the reversal medications that might be needed in an emergency situation (I was more concerned about an airway issue while sedated so was not feeling at all reassured). I asked what medications are used for general anesthesia and was told I would get more specific information once we signed the paperwork agreeing to general anesthesia & was given the office number to the anesthesiologist in which they contract with if I wanted to call and ask them some questions. Was told as soon as we sign the paperwork & pay a deposit we could scheduled for the beginning of March. We took our child to another dentist practice for a second opinion this week & had X-rays sent over from Children’s Dentistry of Virginia. The pediatric dentist did an exam & reviewed the X-rays that were done in January & were told our child actually only has 1 cavity & it appears to be more of a defect with the tooth causing the issue & agreed that it needs to be pulled but no other cavities or issues otherwise. They were able to get us in for both an initial visit & for the tooth pull with laughing gas within 8 days of first calling & for less than $150 & still mid February. VERY GRATEFUL we asked questions & didn’t agree to stay with Children’s Dentistry of Virginia & allow them to give our child general anesthesia for unnecessary procedures. Huge learning experience on our part, if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. If insurance won’t pay a cent, there could be a reason. If a doctor/personnel can’t reasonably answer important questions (or be kind), get a second opinion.