Children with Autism, ADHD and Dental Anxiety in Frisco, TX
Looking for a special needs dentist in Frisco? Dr. Peravali trained for this in a general practice residency, and it shows in the only measure that counts: how many of these children get through treatment awake, calm, and willing to come back.
How we adapt a dental visit for your child
Almost all of the work happens before the child sits in the chair — the planning is what decides how the visit goes.
A phone call before the first appointment
Tell us what we are working with before you come. What sets your child off, what calms them, whether it is sound or light or touch or being reclined, what happened at the last dental visit, whether they are non-speaking, what their communication looks like. None of that is intrusive — it is the difference between an appointment we have planned and one we are improvising.
A first visit with no treatment
For a lot of children the right first appointment is one with no treatment in it at all. Come in, sit in the chair, ride it up and down, meet the person, look at the mirror, leave. It sounds like a wasted slot and it is the single highest-value appointment we offer these families, because it removes the unknown before the unknown has to be tolerated.
Timing the visit around your child
First appointment of the morning, before the waiting room fills and before the day runs late. For some children, the quietest slot matters more than any technique we have.
Tell-show-do: explaining each step before we do it
The instrument is named, then shown, then used on a finger or a fingernail, then used on a tooth. Every new thing gets the same three steps. It is unhurried, and the hour-per-patient schedule is what makes it possible: a frightened child is not rushed while the next patient waits.
Nitrous oxide (laughing gas), if it helps
A nose mask, a sweet smell, and a child who is still awake and still in the room but no longer braced. It wears off within minutes at the end and they go back to school. For the large majority of children this is as much help as they need.
Stopping the visit when your child needs to
Sometimes the answer is that today we did the top left and that was a good day. Getting three-quarters of the way and coming back is a far better outcome than forcing the last quarter and losing the child's trust for a decade.
What families should know before a special needs dental visit
Why families choose Dr. Peravali
This is not a preference or a personality trait — it is training. A general practice residency puts a dentist in a hospital-based environment treating patients that private practice often does not see: adults and children with developmental disabilities, medical complexity, and behavioral needs. That is where you learn that an autistic child who cannot tolerate the suction is not a behavior problem to be managed but a sensory problem to be solved. You also learn that a child with ADHD does far better in a short, well-timed, highly structured appointment than in a long patient one. It is also where you learn what genuinely warrants sedation and what only looks like it does. The practical result is the only measure that matters: most of these children get through treatment here awake, and most of them come back willing.
She gave up her sedation permit, because she stopped needing it
Dr. Peravali held a Texas Level 1 anesthesia permit, which allowed her to provide oral conscious sedation to children using a single drug. She let it go. The only permit she holds now is for nitrous oxide, and the reason is the most useful thing on this page: she used the other one only a handful of times over the years. Nitrous, an unhurried appointment and the slow approach got nearly every child through treatment, including children who had struggled with dentistry before, until renewing a permit used so rarely stopped making any sense. That is a strange direction for a dental practice to travel. The usual one is the opposite: a sedation credential gets acquired and then finds uses for itself, because an unused capability is a cost and a used one is revenue. This went the other way, and it is checkable — sedation permits are public record. It is not an argument against oral sedation, which is genuinely right for some children. That is exactly why those cases go to a pediatric specialist instead.
Our one firm rule for special needs visits
Restraint is not something we use with children. That rules out papoose boards, held arms, or the version where two adults lean on a child while somebody works quickly. It is still used, it is sometimes defended as being in the child's interest, and we choose not to use it. A child held down for dentistry learns exactly one thing, and they keep it for thirty years. We see the adults it produced, and they arrive in their forties having not been to a dentist since. We would far rather do half the treatment, or none of it, and try again. And where a child genuinely cannot be treated awake and the treatment cannot wait, that means a referral to a pediatric specialist with the right setting for it.
Special needs dental care near Frisco, Prosper and Plano
Special needs dental care is provided in our office at 8175 Custer Rd, Suite A110, Frisco, TX 75035. We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM. Wednesday and Sunday we are closed, though the phone is still answered on Wednesday. Patients come from Frisco and from Prosper, Plano, Little Elm, Allen, Celina and McKinney. Call (469) 262-2111 to book a visit.
Call (469) 262-2111What we can and cannot offer for special needs care
Stated plainly, because the wrong practice costs a family a wasted appointment and a frightened child.
| Feature | Here | Referred to a pediatric specialist |
|---|---|---|
| A frightened or anxious child | Yes — this is most of what we do | — |
| Autism, ADHD, sensory needs | Yes, with the appointment planned in advance | — |
| Nitrous oxide | Yes | — |
| Oral conscious sedation for a child | No — we no longer provide this to children | Yes, where genuinely needed |
| IV sedation or general anesthetic | No | Yes |
| Extensive treatment in one asleep visit | No | Yes |
| Restraint of any kind | Not used | — |
Booking a special needs dental visit: what to tell us
You do not have to have the right words. Anything on this list helps, and you can tell us as much or as little as you like:
- What happened at the last dental visit, if there was one. Including if it went badly. Especially if it went badly.
- Sound, light, touch, or being tilted back — which of these is a problem, and how much.
- How your child tells you they have had enough, and what you would like us to do when they do.
- What settles them. A specific item, headphones, a parent’s hand, a particular kind of warning before something happens.
- Anything we should not do or say. Some children have one word or one action that ends the appointment, and we would much rather know it in advance.
None of this is unusual to us and none of it will be met with a sigh. It is the ordinary way we book these appointments, and it is the reason they tend to go better than families expect.
Related pages: children’s dentistry, nitrous oxide and your child’s first dental visit.
Time in the chair for children's dentistry.
The scale runs to five hours — the same scale on every page, so the bars are comparable across the whole site.
Special needs dental visit cost in Frisco: two things to know
You get the figure in writing before treatment starts. We accept all major PPO plans and file the claim for you, our membership plan takes a percentage off treatment, and CareCredit financing is available.
How plans usually cover children's dentistry.
Preventive and diagnostic — Class I on most plans
- What plans pay
- Usually paid at 100%, which is why children's dentistry feels free at the desk. It is not free; it is prepaid, and it is the part of the plan worth using every year.
- Deductible
- Usually waived. Most plans do not apply the deductible to preventive care, which is one of the few pieces of good news in plan design.
What catches people out
- Frequency limits are counted by date — not by calendar year. "Two cleanings a year" usually means six months and a day between them, so an appointment moved a week early can be the one that is not paid.
- It still spends your annual maximum. The plan paying 100% is the plan paying out, and that draws the ceiling down even though you hand over nothing — which is exactly how two ordinary visits can leave very little behind.
- Some plans exclude preventive care from the maximum altogether. We check whether yours does, because it changes how the whole year should be sequenced.
These are how dental plans usually classify this treatment — not a statement about your own plan. Yours is the one that governs, plans differ more than people expect, and the only reliable answer comes from reading your specific benefits, which we always do ahead of treatment and give you in writing.
And what changes out-of-network
A dentist who is in-network has signed a contract fixing what may be charged for each procedure and cannot bill you the difference. One who is out-of-network has signed nothing, so the full fee stands.
So the first difference is the price itself — the same treatment is simply allowed to cost more out-of-network, before anyone's plan is considered.
What you personally pay out of that depends on your own deductible and coinsurance, which is why there is no percentage here: it is not a property of the treatment, it is a property of your plan, and we verify yours before you commit. But two things follow for everybody. Your share is a share of a bigger number. And your annual maximum is spent by what the plan pays toward that bigger number, so the same treatment eats more of your benefit out-of-network.
An illustration, not a quote. Both allowed fees for children's dentistry are not yet on hand, so the chart above shows a crown instead — the one procedure we hold both sides for. The in-network side is today's contracted allowance; the out-of-network side is what a single carrier allowed during a period when we were not contracted with it, and it is a few years old. Across the 23 procedures where we hold both allowed fees, out-of-network is between 1.2 and 5 times the in-network figure — most often a little over twice.
Check the going rate yourself
FAIR Health's dental cost lookup is free, needs no account, and is not ours — it reports what a procedure typically costs in your area. It does not know your plan, so treat it as a ballpark figure — not a final answer.
Ask us for the number first
We verify your specific plan before your appointment and give you a written estimate: what the plan is expected to pay, and what you pay. If we get it wrong we tell you why.
Bring an Explanation of Benefits
Treated somewhere else? Your EOB shows exactly what the plan paid and what it counted against your maximum. Bring one in and we will read it with you — whether or not you become a patient here.
None of this says out-of-network dentists are worse dentists. Plenty are excellent, plenty are out-of-network for sound reasons, and people choose a dentist for who that person is. What we think you are owed is the information, so that whatever you choose, you chose it knowingly. The whole thing, explained properly, or call (469) 262-2111 and ask.
What the first year of special needs dental care looks like
For an anxious or sensory-sensitive child, progress is measured in visits — not treatment completed.
- Visit oneVisit one: nothing happens, by design
Sit in the chair, ride it, meet the person, leave with a token. Success is walking out calm — not anything achieved clinically.
- Visit twoVisit two: a first look at the teeth
A mirror, a look, maybe a toothbrush polish. Still no instruments they have not met.
- Visit threeUsually the turning point in the first year
Most children who arrive frightened are noticeably easier by the third visit. That is not a promise, but it is what we see most often.
- TreatmentTreatment in small parts, if that suits your child
One quadrant at a time, short appointments, first thing in the morning. Slower on paper, faster in practice than repeated failed attempts.
- AfterwardsKeep coming while nothing is wrong
The most useful thing for these children is routine visits when there is no problem to fix. Every calm visit makes the next one easier, and it is how you avoid ever needing the difficult one.
Booking children with autism, adhd and dental anxiety in Frisco
Ring and describe your child before you book. Ask for whatever you need — first slot of the day, a quiet room, no waiting-room time, a visit with no treatment in it. None of those requests are unusual here and none of them will be met with a sigh.
- Hours
- Weekdays 9–6
Saturdays 9–3 - Languages
- English, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu
Arabic with Saba, our hygienist, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Vietnamese with Anh, our hygienist, Saturdays
Cantonese and Mandarin with Dr. Louie, our periodontist, on his scheduled days, by internal referral
Special Needs and Anxious Children Dentistry FAQs in Frisco, TX
Grouped so you can go straight to the one you came for.
Children with Autism, ADHD and Dental Anxiety — common questions
Do you treat children with autism?
Do you treat children with ADHD?
Will you hold my child down?
Can my child be sedated for dental work?
Why did Dr. Peravali stop offering oral sedation for children?
My child screamed through the last dental visit somewhere else. Is it worth trying again?
Do you accept Medicaid for children with special needs?
My child is non-speaking. How do you manage that?
Can I stay in the room with them?
How long before we can actually get treatment done?
How do you help an autistic child at the dentist?
Where can I find a special needs dentist near me in Frisco?
Toothache at 7am? You'll be seen today.
Same-day and Saturday appointments for toothaches, broken teeth, knocked-out teeth and lost crowns. Call us and we'll tell you what to do first, while you're still at home.
Everything else under this roof.
White Lotus Dental offers nine dental specialties inside one calm office on Custer Road. Having general dentists and an in-house periodontist on staff means your entire family can receive preventive, restorative, and surgical treatments in one familiar place.
Preventive Dentistry
Regular dental checkups, professional cleanings, night guards, and jaw-pain care. Every routine exam includes an oral cancer screening to protect your long-term health.
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Children's Dentistry
Gentle first dental visits, protective sealants, fluoride applications, and space maintainers. We accept Children's Medicaid and CHIP, and every young patient receives a toy-machine token at the end of their visit.
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Orthodontics
Clear aligners with Invisalign® and comprehensive traditional braces. Your treatment is fitted, monitored, and adjusted in-house by your trusted dentist.
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Missing Teeth
Permanent dental implants, dental bridges, and customized dentures planned using 3-D CBCT scans. Because our team includes a board-certified periodontist, your implant surgery, placement, and final crown are completed in the same building.
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Cosmetic Dentistry
Professional Zoom whitening, custom take-home whitening trays, and composite tooth bonding designed to brighten and refine your natural smile.
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Periodontics & Oral Surgery
Specialized gum disease therapy, scaling and root planing (deep cleanings), frenectomies, and periodontal surgery performed by our board-certified periodontist.
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Restorative Dentistry
Custom porcelain crowns, bridges, tooth-colored fillings, and full-mouth restorations crafted to match the natural look, feel, and function of your teeth.
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Sedation Dentistry
Relaxing dental care tailored to your comfort level. We offer nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for any routine clinic visit, as well as oral and IV sedation planned ahead with our periodontist.
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Emergency Dentistry
Toothaches, broken teeth, knocked-out teeth and lost crowns — seen the same day, Saturdays included.
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