It was her own sweet tooth that inspired Dr. Mira Albert to become a pediatric dentist. “As a kid I spent more time than I’d like to admit on the opposite end of fighting sugar bugs with my childhood dentist,” she says. “That said, I had such a wonderful experience that an interest in dentistry was sparked at a young age.”

Dr. Albert also credits a love of science, children, and using her hands for inspiring her career in pediatric dentistry. She founded Brush Pediatric Dentistry in Hinsdale in 2011, and it’s where she and a team of pediatric dentists tend to the dental needs of patients as young or younger than a year old.

“Our team is properly credentialed to exclusively treat children,” she says. “We are empathetic, fun, smart, extremely caring, and we know how to get things done when it seems impossible.”

The practice maintains leadership roles in national and local professional organizations and remains committed to the community by supporting local schools, sports teams, and organizations. A specific interest of the practice is helping parents understand that once a child turns 1 year old, it’s time for a trip to the dentist.

“Children have dental problems and concerns that are very different than adults and should be addressed differently,” says Dr. Andreina Ramones, a member of the Brush Pediatric Dentistry team. “It’s important to teach prevention and oral health early on and to build trusting relationships with parents and their families.”

Trips to the dentist for children can potentially be unnerving. Treating them requires a special skill set and the Brush Pediatric Dentistry team has it. “Curiosity can manifest itself as fear when questions go unanswered” explains Dr. Maggie Rizzo, also a member of the Brush Pediatric Dentistry team. “New faces, new environments, and new instruments can leave a child’s mind racing.”

Which is why the team wants to make a trip to the dentist fun. “I believe strongly in the ‘tell-show-do’ technique, as well as letting kids safely explore with the very tools that, at first, appear to be intimidating.” Dr. Rizzo explains. “I enjoy fabricating stories of what the sugar bugs are doing inside their teeth and discussing the type of fancy sparkly hat design that we might use to finish the procedure.”

Dr. Lynna Griptentrop says that if a patient seems timid or fearful walking in, she tries to learn what that stems from and cater the visit accordingly. “Flexibility with kids is the key,” she adds. “We roll with it and try to make visits to the dentist easy and fun. I am happiest when they’re having fun.”

While part of the focus is making visits pleasant for its young patients, the Brush Pediatric Dentistry team takes the dental care it provides seriously. “We spend an extraordinary amount of time on education and are considered the pediatricians of dentistry,” Dr. Albert says. “Parents sometimes think they don’t need to be in the care of a specialist because their child isn’t fearful or they believe their child doesn’t have any ‘dental issues,’ but the truth is pediatric dentistry is a whole different ball game when compared to adult dentistry.”

Albert notes that pediatric dentistry requires two additional years beyond dental school to become specialized. “We screen, diagnose, and treat our patients based on a set of guidelines that we have studied intently and that has long-term, positive effects on our growing little patients,” she says.

In addition to their professional careers, all four doctors pursue passions outside the office—which vary from running marathons to learning “Baby Shark” on the piano for a “Baby Shark”-obsessed 2-year-old daughter.

When visiting for the first time, one gets the sense Brush Pediatric Dentistry is like a big happy family with lots of kids sporting bright, shiny smiles. “I’m inspired by the idea of being part of a field that lets me build long-term relationships with my patients and their families,” Dr. Ramones says.

Brush Pediatric Dentistry is located at 911 N. Elm Street, No. 228, in Hinsdale, 630-504-2223, brushforkids.com.