Is it possible to look forward to a visit to the dentist? If your dentist is Dr. Ben Liu or one of his team members, it’s quite likely. The Falls Church–based doctor, who recently opened his fifth SuperKids Pediatric Dentistry location in the DMV — there are now two in Alexandria, along with offices in Potomac, Sterling, and Rockville — does everything he can to make dental health visits a painless experience for kids and their parents alike.
“What’s always constantly occupying my mind is, how can we deliver better customer experiences?” Dr. Liu says. “What really sets us apart is we go that extra mile. I always tell my team that the attitude that we want to have is we are here to serve the community.” He emphasizes a “partnership” approach with parents to help them implement his recommendations at home, as well as complete and judgment-free transparency every step of the way.
“We very much emphasize that we don't want parents to feel like they're ever misled from a clinical or a financial perspective,” Dr. Liu continues. “We present all of our care plans upfront, and we don't touch a tooth until the parent fully understands the treatment recommendations and the financial costs. The top priority is whatever we choose to do, with the parent’s consent, is the best option for the dental health of the child.”
SuperKids offers a range of dental and orthodontic services, including standard teeth cleaning, dental sealants, child-friendly sedation, gum disease treatment, Invisalign, and braces. Dr. Liu now has teenage patients that he’s treated since they were toddlers.
Another perk for everyone in the family: nobody is kept waiting. Even five minutes, Dr. Liu says, is too long for folks to sit in the waiting room. The doctor, who studied at Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Columbia, says great service comes down to caring, something he’s always emphasizing with his team.
Caring for kids comes easily to Dr. Liu, who understood them from an early age; even as a young adult in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he was the voice of reason, taking his younger sister and cousins under his wing. Like others who are great with children, he doesn’t talk down to them. And he appreciates their honesty: “Kids are upfront with you. They’re straight to the point and they’ll tell you how they feel,” he says.
In high school and college, Dr. Liu volunteered at pediatric hospitals and says working in a pediatric oncology ward made a lasting impression on him. From that experience, he resolved to work with children in some capacity but it wasn’t until he was getting a Ph.D. in molecular biology in his mid-twenties that he realized what his path should be. For one, he “didn’t want to spend all day in the lab and have no interactions with people.” Pediatric dentistry proved to be the perfect path.
Dr. Liu moved back to the DC metro area with his wife and opened his first practice in 2013. Now, three kids (ages 7, 5, and 3, who love playing “dentist and patient” at dad’s workplace) and five locations later, he isn’t slowing down. It’s easy to keep up momentum when you love what you do.
“I can’t think of a better job for me than what I’m currently doing,” Dr. Liu says. Now that’s something to smile about.