Welcome

What is brightsmiles Pediatric Dentistry?

We warmly welcome all of our new patients to our practice! We aim to have a highly specialized pediatric dental practice to deliver optimal preventative and restorative dental work to all patients, in a setting that is psychologically rewarding and one of a kind. We seek to provide a dental home for our patients, focusing on preventative strategies to limit high-risk habits, leading to lower rates of caries.

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The best way to prepare your child for the visit is to be open and honest with them. Encourage them that the doctor will count their teeth, take pictures of their teeth and even tickle their teeth. Practice opening and closing at home and counting. Inform them that they will be receiving a goodie bag and that many kids go and enjoy the experience.

We will spend adequate time with you and your child reviewing the cavity process, diet, hygiene, thumb-sucking, pacifier use, fluoride exposure and many more things! We believe that by minimizing the high risk cavity forming habits and maximizing the cavity preventing habits will ultimately result in positive oral health. We will also review caries, formulate a treatment plan, and review all options available to help your child cope. We provide in office nitrous oxide use and general anesthesia at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for the treatment of dental caries.

Please understand that the most important part about the first visit is the establishment of trust and the positive first experience. Therefore, we do NOT provide dental treatment the same day as your child’s first visit to our office.

Do not be surprised if your child continues to talk about their visit for days or weeks after their first visit. That is what we strive for!

Protocol

COVID19 PROTOCOL

To our patient and families,

We hope you and your families are feeling strong and smiling safe! We have made updates to our office protocols to ensure the health and safety of our patients and team. brightsmiles Pediatric Dentistry will always go above and beyond to create the safest environment for every person who walks through our doors.

To further protect you and your family, we have put into place new Coronavirus (COVID-19) protocol and infection control measures recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We do this to provide a safe and secure environment and experience for you and your family members and our entire team.

When you come in for your next visit, your dental experience will include new health safeguard measures. Some of these changes include:

In the event you or your child are experiencing Flu-like/COVID-19 symptoms, please contact us at least 24 hours in advance to reschedule your appointment.

We will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some health screening questions related to COVID-19. You will receive a COVID-19 screening form to be completed prior to your appointment.

We ask all guardians and patients to wear a mask.

We have hand sanitizer in our office and we will ask you to use it when you come in for your appointment and when you leave. You will also find sanitizer in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.

We will be taking temperatures on all of our patients and guardian that is accompanying them.

Only the patient and 1 guardian will be allowed to the building during their scheduled appointment time.

The guardian may be asked to remain in their car or in the waiting room to facilitate social distancing

Inside the office, you may notice things people often touch in the waiting room – like toys or magazines – have been removed

Appointments will be scheduled and managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.

Please do not bring others with you to your appointment if at all possible.

We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.

You may notice some things look different from the last time you were there. The dentist may have covered the computer’s keyboard with a disposable cover so it can be easily cleaned between patients, for example. Your dentist may also be using different protective equipment than they’ve used at previous appointments. This could include different masks, face shields, gowns and goggles. These additional precautions help protect both you and the dentist.

After your appointment is over, the staff will thoroughly clean the areas where you’ve been using disinfectants that are effective against the virus that causes COVID-19 to prepare for the next patient. This helps reduce the risk of illness being passed to others.

As always, we welcome the opportunity to answer any of your questions and to address all concerns.

We are in this together, and we will never underestimate the power of a smile!

New Patients Forms

A link from the office will be sent 48 hours prior to the appointment

Online payment

VISA, MASTERCARD AND PAYPAL

Emergencies

Call our office at 773 423 6050 and listen to voicemail prompt for our after hours emergency information or call 773 800 0749 

Office Policies

Appointments

Children tend to do better in the dental office when they are not tired. Therefore, we encourage morning appointments, especially for children who are preschool-aged or overly nervous. One of our goals is providing dentistry that is as pleasant as possible for your child, and appropriate scheduling may help us achieve this goal. Also, keep in mind that a dental appointment is an excused absence from school.

When we schedule an appointment, that time is reserved solely for your child and we make every effort to see them right on time. For this reason, we ask that you arrive a few minutes before your scheduled time. We also require a 48-hour notice for cancellations. We need this amount of time so that we may contact a child from our waiting list who is in need of an appointment. If we do not receive a 48-hour notice, we reserve the right to charge your account a broken appointment fee.

Financial Policy

Payment for treatment is due at the time of service, we also accept payment by cash, check, Visa, Mastercard and CareCredit.

Insurance

Please keep in mind that we do not work with or for any insurance company. Our responsibility is to you and your child, and accountability for timely payment is placed upon the patients we serve. We thank you for your understanding in this matter. Please contact our team for further information.

We seek to be active in our community, promoting inclusion and equality, representing and serving our patients and families proudly.

Dr. Lauren Ming

Board Certified Pediatric Dentist

Dr. Lauren Ming is a compassionate pediatric dentist who continuously strives to provide the highest level of care for her patients.  She loves getting to know her patients on a personal level and treats each as she would her own family. Dr. Ming firmly believes that “prevention is the best medicine” and is devoted to building relationships and supporting each patient on their unique dental journey from infancy to adolescence, and beyond.  Dr. Ming believes that helping a patient improve and maintain their smile enriches their life and enhances their confidence to achieve their dreams!

Dr. Ming grew up in Los Angeles and attended Loyola Marymount University, where she was on the rowing team and graduated with a degree in Biology. She then went on to receive her D.D.S. degree from Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in New Orleans. While at LSU, she received the Dental Lifeline Network Award which recognizes a dental student committed to volunteerism & helping individuals with special health care needs.

After graduation, Dr. Ming moved to Chicago to pursue a General Practice Residency, which provided her with advanced training in areas of dentistry such as pediatrics and treatment of medically compromised and special needs patients.  She practiced as a general dentist for several years in private practice and community hospital settings before choosing to specifically focus on providing quality and specialized dental care for kids.   Dr. Ming served as chief resident and completed her pediatric training at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

Beyond dentistry, Dr. Ming spends her time with her husband, Jeff,  and dog, Brody (the best-est boy).  She enjoys going for long bike rides, cooking tasty meals, and practicing her crafting skills.   Dr. Ming is delighted to officially welcome you to the BrightSmiles family!