Gentle, patient care for children, from a first visit through the teenage years. We work at your child’s pace rather than rushing the appointment, and we treat the whole family on one schedule.
We recommend a child’s first dental visit by their first birthday, or within six months of the first tooth coming in. That sounds early, and it is meant to. The point of that appointment is not treatment. It is a look at how the teeth are coming through, a chance to answer your questions, and a first experience of a dental chair that is short and uneventful.
What most families need, first visits, cleanings, sealants, fluoride and the occasional small filling, is care we provide as part of everyday general dentistry, with children seen alongside their parents.
Our guide to pediatric dentistry covers the clinical background. This page is about what a visit here looks like, and how we handle a child who does not want to be there.
Six services cover almost everything a child needs between the first tooth and the last one to arrive.
A relaxed introduction to the dentist for young children, focused on comfort rather than treatment. Counting teeth is a perfectly good first appointment.
Routine checkups that track how the teeth and jaw are developing and catch cavities while they are still small.
Protective treatments for the grooves in back teeth, where the cavities children get most often tend to start.
Kid-friendly fillings when a cavity does develop, explained in terms a child can follow.
Practical advice on thumb-sucking, pacifier use and brushing, and a word if we see the bite starting to be affected.
We take extra time with anxious children, at their pace, so a visit stays positive rather than becoming a story they remember.
A checkup here is short. Knowing the order helps, both for you and for whatever you tell your child beforehand.
We keep the exam relaxed and explain each step in terms your child can follow. Teeth, gums, bite and jaw development all get a look, and you are welcome to stay in the room.
A gentle cleaning removes plaque and introduces your child to the sounds and the feel of dental tools, which is half of what makes the next visit easier. Fluoride or sealants may be recommended here.
We go through anything we found, with a plan and a cost for any treatment needed. Nothing gets booked before you have heard what it is and what it costs.
Children pick up more than we think. If a child is anxious, we slow down, name each instrument before it appears, and let them hold the mirror. Nothing is forced. A visit that ends early with a child still willing to come back beats a completed cleaning and a fear that lasts a decade. Tell us when you book, so we can allow the extra time.
Baby teeth matter more than their short career suggests. They hold the space for the adult teeth behind them, they do the chewing, and a cavity in one can hurt and become infected just as an adult tooth can. Losing one early lets the neighboring teeth drift into the gap, which crowds the tooth meant to come through there.
Thumb-sucking and pacifier use are normal early on and most children stop on their own. If the habit continues once the adult front teeth are arriving, it can start to change the bite, and that is when it is worth talking about. Later, if the bite needs correcting, clear aligners are one option for older children and teenagers.
Playing a contact sport? Ask us about a mouthguard at your child’s next checkup.
With children, the logistics decide whether the appointment happens at all.
The 8:30 slots on Wednesday and Thursday work well before school. Friday closes at two, which suits collecting a child early rather than at the end of a long day.
What a children’s visit costs depends mostly on the plan behind it. We accept most dental plans and check your eligibility at no charge before the first visit, so you know where you stand before arriving with a child in tow. Children’s preventive care, exams, cleanings, fluoride and sealants, is covered well by many plans, often better than the adult equivalent.
With no insurance, the initial consultation is free and any treatment plan comes with its cost attached before you decide. The plans we work with are listed on our insurance page.
Prevention is the cheapest dentistry there is, and that is truest for children. A sealant costs a fraction of the filling it may prevent, and a small cavity caught early is a straightforward preventive restoration rather than anything larger.
The practice is rated 4.4 across 114 public reviews and has been open on Washington since 1997, which means some of our patients now bring their own children. It is led by Dr. Marjaneh Moghimi, DDS, who qualified at USC, with Dr. Caroline Malakuti, Dr. Samantha Besser and Dr. Kyle Sung.
The practical advantage is simple: children are treated alongside their parents, so the household stays on one schedule and in one set of records. General, cosmetic and implant dentistry sit under the same roof, so nobody gets sent across town.
By your child’s first birthday, or within six months of their first tooth coming in. It is a short, gentle appointment, and it gives us a baseline to measure everything against later.
A checkup and cleaning every six months, the same as adults. We will tell you if your child needs to come more often, and why, rather than simply booking extra visits.
Yes. We work with anxious and first-time patients regularly and take extra time so your child can go at their own pace. Mention it when you book, because knowing in advance is what lets us give the appointment room.
Yes, and we recommend both for most children. Sealants go on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth, which is where most childhood decay starts.
Usually yes. A baby tooth can ache and become infected like any other, and it is holding space for the adult tooth behind it. How we treat it depends on how close the tooth is to coming out naturally, and we will explain the reasoning.
Yes, and it is one of the reasons families come here. Children who watch a parent sit through a cleaning tend to worry less about their own.
Book at our Marina del Rey office and we will keep the first appointment short, calm and honest about what we find. New patients are welcome and eligibility is checked at no charge.
