Kids Dentist in Fayetteville, NC
Dino Kids Dental of Fayetteville is a children’s dental office at 1916 Skibo Road, a few minutes from Cross Creek Mall and a short hop from Fort Bragg. We built the place for kids, top to bottom — playful, easy on the nerves, and a world away from the clinical offices most parents grew up dreading. From a baby’s first checkup to a teenager’s pre-season mouthguard, every age has a chair here, and so does every kind of kid: the bold ones, the shy ones, and the ones who need a few visits before they’ll open up.
Children's Dental Care for Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, and Cumberland County
Skibo Road keeps us central. From most neighborhoods across Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, and Raeford, you’re looking at a 10- to 15-minute drive — which matters more than it sounds when you’ve got a car seat, a sippy cup, and a tight window between nap and dinner. Easy to reach is half the battle with young kids, and this office is easy to reach.
Here’s the part most families discover only after they’ve booked: O2 Dental Group of Fayetteville, our adult-care sister practice, is right next door in Suite C3 of the same building. So the parent who’s been putting off their own cleaning can knock it out at the same address the kids come to — same lot, same standards, same front-desk team that already knows your name. Kids’ care in C5, grown-up care in C3, zero extra driving.
Why Fayetteville and Fort Bragg Families Pick Dino Kids Dental
Kids Only — That's the Whole Practice
Every chair, every visit, every day is for children. No adult patients squeezed in between.
Built for Military Families
TRICARE-friendly and fluent in the realities of deployments, PCS orders, and transferring records mid-move.
Bilingual, English and Spanish
Dr. Garcia-Soto and bilingual staff mean Spanish-speaking parents get the full picture in their own language.
A Team That's Hard to Rattle
Trained in how children develop and unbothered by tears, wiggles, or a kid who needs three tries to warm up.
Real Special-Needs Experience
Quiet-hour scheduling, practice visits, sensory adjustments, and a plan shaped around your individual child.
Urgent Slots Held Daily
A knocked-out tooth or a swollen jaw can't wait until next week, so we keep weekday openings for emergencies.
Adult Care Next Door
O2 Dental Group in Suite C3 means parents and kids can both be seen on a single trip.
Straight Talk, No Upsells
Plain guidance on brushing, snacks, and habits — and an honest "that can wait" when something genuinely can.
A Note for Fort Bragg Families
Military families from Fort Bragg, Pope Field, and the surrounding installations make up a big share of the kids we see, and we get how the assignment shapes everything else. Deployments scramble the calendar. PCS orders mean a new state and a scramble to forward records. What military families tell us they want most is a provider who’s steady and predictable in the middle of all that — and that’s the role we try to fill. We accept a range of dental plans, including the coverage military families typically carry. Check our insurance page for the full list, or call (910) 965-0123 and we’ll confirm your specific plan before you come in.
Meet Dr. Carlos Garcia-Soto
Dr. Carlos Garcia-Soto leads the dental team at Dino Kids Dental of Fayetteville, where the whole job is making a child’s visit something they don’t dread coming back to. He earned his degree at the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine and has spent more than a decade in dentistry, the last stretch of it focused on the children of Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, and Cumberland County.
As a native Spanish speaker, Dr. Garcia-Soto closes a gap that matters a great deal in this community. Spanish-speaking parents can talk through symptoms, weigh a treatment plan, and decide what’s right for their child directly — no interpreter, no translation drift, nothing lost in the handoff. ¡Bienvenidos a todas las familias!
Ask the families who see him and the same notes come up: how calmly he handles a nervous kid, how he slows down to explain things in words a six-year-old actually follows, and how a child who walked in crying often leaves asking when they get to come back. He doesn’t push the pace. Some kids hop into the chair on day one; others need three or four short visits before a cleaning feels okay — and the practice is set up so both are completely fine.
Dr. Garcia-Soto is licensed to practice dentistry in North Carolina.
Children's Dental Services in Fayetteville
From the first tooth to the last set of molars, here's the care we provide under one Dino-themed roof. Tap any service to see what to expect and how we handle it.
Pediatric Exams & Cleanings
Six-month checkups, gentle polishing, fluoride, and X-rays only when they’re truly needed — the visits where we catch the small stuff long before it becomes a filling.
Dental Sealants
A quick, painless seal over the grooved chewing surface of a new molar — the one spot a toothbrush can’t really reach, and where most childhood cavities get started.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
When a cavity does sneak in, we repair it with composite that blends right into the tooth — so your child isn’t explaining a mouthful of silver to friends at school.
Pediatric Dental Crowns
A baby tooth too broken down for a filling can still be rescued. A crown holds it together and keeps it doing its job until the permanent tooth is ready to take over.
Baby Tooth Extractions
Sometimes a baby tooth simply has to go — badly decayed, abscessed, or blocking an incoming adult tooth. We keep the whole thing calm, quick, and as comfortable as a removal gets.
Space Maintainers
Lose a baby tooth well before the adult one is due and the neighbors start drifting into the gap. A small custom appliance holds that space so the permanent tooth has room to land.
Emergency Pediatric Care
Bike spills, elbows at practice, a tooth that flares at bedtime — call us first. We keep urgent slots open every weekday for the kids who can’t wait for a regular appointment.
Sedation for Kids
For the rare child who needs more than patience and a slow pace, we walk through sedation honestly — what it is, whether it fits, and when a hospital setting is the safer call.
Special Healthcare Needs
Unhurried, individualized appointments for children with autism, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, and medical complexity — built around how your child copes, not a fixed template.
First Visits & Infants
Baby’s first appointment is more meet-and-greet than procedure: a look, a count, and straight answers to the questions every new parent has. Shoot for the first birthday.
Habit Counseling
Thumb, pacifier, tongue thrust, mouth breathing — we’ll tell you which habits sort themselves out and which are worth addressing before they start to reshape the bite.
Teen Dentistry
Braces-friendly cleanings, custom mouthguards for the field, wisdom-tooth check-ins, and steady care through the years before they graduate next door to O2.
Emergency Pediatric Dentist in Fayetteville
A dental emergency with a kid has a way of flipping a normal afternoon upside down — a faceplant off the bike, an elbow to the mouth at practice, a toothache that picks bedtime to flare. When it happens, call our Skibo Road office at (910) 965-0123 right away. Moving fast is what saves teeth and shuts down pain, and we’d far rather hear from you early than have you tough it out and hope.
What we squeeze in same-day:
- A toothache bad enough to interrupt sleep, school, or eating
- A chipped, cracked, or broken tooth after a fall or a hit
- A permanent (adult) tooth knocked clean out — call now; the clock is the whole game
- A baby tooth knocked loose, or hurting enough that your child won’t chew on that side
- New swelling anywhere in the face, jaw, or gums
- A filling, crown, or space maintainer that has come out
- Cuts to the lips, tongue, cheeks, or gums
- Signs of infection — a pimple-like bump on the gum, mouth pain with fever, or a steady throb
If an adult tooth gets knocked out, pick it up by the crown — never the root — and rinse off any grit with a quick splash of milk or saline. Slip it into a cup of milk (not plain water, which damages the root cells) or, if your child is old enough not to swallow it, tuck it inside their cheek. Then come straight here. Re-implantation works best inside the first 30 to 60 minutes, so don’t linger.
If there’s bleeding that won’t stop, a serious facial injury, or any trouble breathing or swallowing, the emergency room comes first — Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, or Womack Army Medical Center if you’re on or near post. Get your child stable there, then call us to set up the dental follow-up.
First Dental Visits: Infants, Toddlers & Baby Teeth
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry puts the first dental visit at age one — by the first birthday, or within six months of that first tooth poking through. For a lot of Fayetteville families, and especially military families who move often, that early visit pulls double duty: it gets your child’s dental record started at a known practice and gets the relationship going before there’s ever a problem to fix.
Nobody’s drilling anything at a first visit. It plays out closer to a friendly checkup with a little coaching on the side:
- We take a careful look. Counting teeth, checking how they’re coming in, scanning for the earliest hints of decay — and usually finding nothing more than a reason to put your mind at ease.
- You get real answers. How much toothpaste, when to drop the bottle, whether the thumb-sucking matters yet, what to do about a fussy molar pushing through — the specifics a busy well-child visit never has time for.
- Your child learns the place is safe. A toddler who has a good first visit becomes a kindergartener who isn’t scared of the dentist, who becomes a teenager who actually keeps up with their teeth. That’s the long game, and it starts now.
There’s no performance expected. A one-year-old who spends the whole appointment parked on a parent’s lap has had a perfect first visit. A toddler who’d rather push the buttons on the chair has had an even better one. We’re not measuring productivity here — we’re building comfort.
Dental Care for Children with Special Healthcare Needs
A child with autism, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, a developmental delay, or a complex medical history doesn’t need a faster appointment — they need a different one. One paced to how your child actually takes in a new room, new sounds, and a stranger asking to look inside their mouth.
We’ve cared for plenty of kids like yours, including children from military families juggling care across moves and a stack of providers. Depending on what helps, we can:
- Book the first or quietest slot of the day, before the waiting room fills up
- Spread things across a few short practice visits so nothing happens before your child is ready
- Lean on pictures, social stories, and a predictable step-by-step routine
- Loop in your caregivers, behavior or ABA therapists, and medical providers so everyone’s aligned
- Dial the room down — lighting, sound, and the number of people in it
- Bring sedation into the conversation when, and only when, it’s genuinely the right tool.
We’ll also be honest when we’re not the right fit. A child with significant medical complexity or behavioral needs is sometimes better served by a hospital-based pediatric specialist who can provide care under general anesthesia — and if that’s your situation, we’ll say so plainly and help you get the referral. What you’ll always get from us is a real conversation about your specific child, never a script.
Sedation Dentistry for Kids — When It Actually Helps
The honest version: most kids never need sedation. Clear explanations, a patient adult, and enough time on the clock carry the vast majority of children through their care just fine. Sedation is for the smaller group where that isn’t quite enough — and we sort that out together at the consultation, not by assuming in advance.
When it does come up, “sedation” covers a range. For a child who’s mostly just keyed up, nitrous oxide — laughing gas — takes the edge off and wears off within minutes of the mask coming off. More involved cases may call for deeper sedation with proper medical monitoring. Your child’s age, health history, anxiety, and how long the treatment runs all feed into which option, if any, makes sense.
What we won’t do is reach for sedation as a shortcut. We use it when it clearly helps the child, and when a case would be safer in a hospital under general anesthesia, we point you there instead. With kids, safety beats convenience every single time.
Areas We Serve from Our Skibo Road Office
Plot where our families actually live and it clusters tight around Skibo Road — most within a 15- to 20-minute drive. We regularly see kids from:
- Fayetteville
- Fort Bragg
- Spring Lake
- Hope Mills
- Raeford
- Eastover
- Stedman
- Linden
Beyond those towns, we treat children from all over Cumberland and Hoke counties — including Fort Bragg families who keep coming back even after a move clear across town. Not sure the drive’s worth it from where you are? Call and ask. If a closer office honestly makes more sense for your family, we’ll tell you that too.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where is Dino Kids Dental of Fayetteville located?
We’re at 1916 Skibo Road, Suite C5, in Fayetteville, NC 28314 — near Cross Creek Mall and a short drive from Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, and Spring Lake. Our sister practice, O2 Dental Group, sits right next door in Suite C3, so families who want pediatric and adult dental care under one roof can get both at the same address.
2. What insurance do you accept for military families?
We accept a range of dental insurance plans, including those commonly used by military families across Fort Bragg, Pope Field, and the surrounding communities. Visit our insurance information page for the full list of accepted plans, or call our office at (910) 965-0123 to verify your specific coverage before your child’s visit.
3. At what age should my child first see a dentist?
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends a first dental visit by your child’s first birthday, or within six months of the first tooth coming in — whichever happens first. Early visits aren’t about treatment; they’re about getting your child comfortable with the dental office, catching any issues early, and giving you practical guidance on brushing, fluoride, and habits like thumb-sucking.
4. Do you see infants, toddlers, and teens?
Yes — every age. Babies starting around their first birthday, toddlers on their second and third visits, kindergarteners getting their first sealants, school-age children, teenagers managing braces and sports mouthguards, and young adults transitioning into our sister practice O2 Dental Group next door.
5. Do you treat dental emergencies for kids?
Yes. Toothaches, broken teeth, knocked-out teeth, swelling, lost fillings, and dental infections are all handled with priority scheduling. Call (910) 965-0123 as soon as the situation comes up. For a knocked-out permanent tooth, time is critical — call immediately.
6. Do you offer sedation dentistry for children?
We discuss sedation options for children who need extra support — based on the child’s age, health history, anxiety level, and the type of treatment needed. We use sedation when it makes a real difference, and we’re honest about when a particular case is better suited to a hospital-based pediatric specialist with general anesthesia rather than our office. Safety always wins over convenience.
7. Do you see children with special healthcare needs?
Yes. Our team has experience caring for children with autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, developmental delays, and various medical conditions. We can schedule at quieter times, take time for desensitization visits, use visual supports, and coordinate with parents, caregivers, and other specialists. Some cases are better suited to a hospital-based setting, and we’ll tell you honestly when that’s the better path.
8. Do you have Spanish-speaking staff?
Sí. Our lead dentist, Dr. Carlos Garcia-Soto, is a native Spanish speaker, and we have bilingual team members so that Spanish-speaking parents in Fayetteville and across Cumberland County can ask questions, get answers, and feel fully informed about their child’s care in their own language. ¡Bienvenidos!
9. What areas around Fayetteville do you serve?
Most of our patients live within about 20 minutes of our Skibo Road office. We see families from Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Spring Lake, Hope Mills, Raeford, Eastover, Stedman, and across Cumberland and Hoke counties. Military families across the Fort Bragg community are an important part of our practice.
10. What makes Dino Kids different from a general dental practice?
Our practice was built for kids — not adapted from an adult office. The space is designed around how children actually experience the world: bright, Dino-themed, child-sized, and never sterile-feeling. Our team is trained in childhood development and works at each child’s pace. A general dental practice treats kids occasionally; we see kids all day, every day.
11. Can my whole family be seen at this location?
Children come to Dino Kids Dental at Suite C5. Adults and teens 18 and older can be seen next door at our sister practice, O2 Dental Group of Fayetteville, at Suite C3 of the same building. Same parking lot, same address, same standards of care — two offices designed for two different patient populations.
12. How can I help prevent cavities in my child’s teeth?
The basics matter more than the latest products. Brush twice a day with a small smear of fluoride toothpaste (rice-grain sized for kids under 3, pea-sized for older), help with brushing until your child can reliably do a thorough job themselves (usually around age 8), limit sugary drinks and snacks between meals, and bring your child for regular checkups. Sealants on permanent molars are highly effective for cavity prevention — we apply them as part of routine care when appropriate.
Schedule Your Child's Visit at Dino Kids Dental of Fayetteville
Ready to bring your child in? Call our office, book online, or stop by to see the Dino-themed space your child won’t want to leave. Located adjacent to O2 Dental Group at the same address — so the whole family can get dental care without driving across town.
Address: 1916 Skibo Road, Suite C5, Fayetteville, NC 28314
Phone: (910) 965-0123
Hours: Monday–Thursday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (lunch 1:00–2:00 PM) · Friday–Sunday closed
Connect With Us!
Follow us on Instagram @dinokidsfay and show us your love with the tag #dinokidsfay
⭐ Hear From Our Happy Patients
It definitely is kid friendly.
The nice receptionists, the dental hygienist and Dr Garcia explained so so much! Even though my kids are little (3 under the age of 5) it is so important to do their routine checks and making sure the grown up teeth are properly coming in and the guidance he gives and can notice that I haven’t was amazing to have pointed out! I would reccomend anyone to this facility!