Pediatric Dentists in Franklin Township, Manville and North Plainfield, NJ

Pediatric Dentists in Franklin Township, Manville, North Plainfield and South Bound Brook, NJ

By Tiffany Slowinski

A pediatric dentist appointment has two patients.

The child.

And the parent trying to keep everything calm.

If you are searching for a pediatric dentist in Franklin Township, Somerset, Manville, North Plainfield or South Bound Brook, this guide is meant to help with the part you can control before you ever walk into the office.

Who is the pediatric specialist?

Does the dentist have the New Jersey specialty permit our guide looks for?

What does the practice publish about training and board certification?

What ages do they see?

Does the practice publish information about sedation?

How do new patients start?

Those are good first filters.

Then comes the part no database can answer.

Will this office be a good fit for your child?

Pediatric dentistry is different from simply choosing a dentist who also treats children.

Some families prefer a general family dentist for everyone.

Others want a pediatric specialist, especially for a very young child, a child with dental anxiety, a child with special needs or a child who may need more involved treatment.

There is no reason to make this ideological.

Choose what works for your family.

If you are looking specifically for pediatric dentistry, though, it helps to know you are actually comparing pediatric specialists.

That is what this guide does.

For a child going to the dentist for the first time, I would ask how the practice handles the appointment.

What is the goal?

How does the team introduce the equipment?

What happens if the child gets nervous?

Can a parent stay close?

How much time is allowed?

The answers tell you how the office thinks about young patients.

If your child already hates dental visits, be upfront.

Ask how the dentist works with anxious kids.

If your child has sensory sensitivities, autism, ADHD or another special need, explain what tends to make appointments easier or harder.

Do not worry about being “that parent.”

This is exactly when you should be that parent.

Sedation is another subject parents research because the terminology can be confusing.

The guide includes it only when a practice publishes it.

If sedation becomes part of your child’s treatment discussion, ask the pediatric dentist what is being proposed, why, what alternatives exist, what the risks are and what instructions apply before and after.

You should understand every part of the plan.

Then look at logistics.

Franklin Township is large.

“Same town” can still be a drive.

Think about the route from home, school or work.

Ask about appointment times.

Ask whether the practice is accepting new patients.

If you have more than one child, ask about sibling scheduling.

Ask what happens with a chipped or painful tooth outside a routine cleaning.

This guide is useful if you are searching for pediatric dentists Franklin Township NJ, pediatric dentist Somerset NJ, kids dentist Manville, children’s dentist North Plainfield, pediatric dentist near South Bound Brook, toddler dentist, dentist for anxious children, special-needs pediatric dentist, sedation dentistry for kids or pediatric dentist accepting new patients.

Parents do enough research.

Car seats.

Camps.

Schools.

Orthodontics.

Sports.

You should not also have to decode the entire dental licensing system just to figure out who is actually a pediatric specialist.

We did that part.

We did the homework here.
For the places actually worth your time, money and babysitter, follow me: @tiffanyknowsnj.

The Guide: Pediatric Dentists in Franklin Township, Manville and North Plainfield, NJ

How We Selected These Pediatric Dentists

This guide covers Franklin Township (Somerset), Manville, North Plainfield, South Bound Brook.

A practice is on this page when it has a pediatric dentistry office in one of those towns and at least one named dentist whose New Jersey dental license the state register showed as Active on September 23, 2026, and who holds a pediatric specialty permit on that register at that office’s town, primary or branch, or a legacy specialty permit that the practice’s own words tie to pediatric dentistry. That is a test, not a judgment. Practices are listed alphabetically.

Where fewer than six practices in these towns met the criteria, the nearest practices that met the same criteria are listed in a second table, each with the town it is based in.

About This Guide

This guide is produced by Garden State Circle. Practices appear here because they meet the criteria described above — a pediatric dentistry office in the towns named above and at least one named dentist with an Active New Jersey dental license and a pediatric specialty permit. That is a test, not a judgment, and it is the only route onto this page. No practice can pay to be included in this guide, to be listed higher, or to change what the comparison table says about it. Practices are listed alphabetically, and every detail in the table was verified against each practice’s own website and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs licensee register in September 2026.

Everything under the heading that begins this guide is governed by the rules above, on every guide we publish. Where a sponsor’s message appears above that heading, it is paid for and labelled, and it buys nothing in the guide. Garden State Circle is supported by the businesses that participate in it. Participation pays for our ongoing work: keeping a business’s entry accurate, re-checking its record, and publishing a page of its own details that the business maintains. There is no paid placement in this guide. Participation does not buy a place here, a position here, or anything the comparison table says. Where a row carries a verification date, that is when we last checked that business’s record ourselves. A row without one has not been checked recently — that is a fact about our work, not about the business. Nothing on this page is medical advice. Every treatment described here carries risks that depend on your own health and history, and the person to discuss them with is a licensed provider who has examined you.

Garden State Circle is published in New Jersey by Tiffany and Jake Slowinski and covers Franklin Township (Somerset), Manville, North Plainfield, South Bound Brook. Contact the publisher at jake@gardenstatecircle.com. How every guide is made, in one place: how every guide is made.

The Pediatric Dentists, Compared

Practice and town	Specialist(s) named, and the permit as the register prints it, checked Sept 23, 2026	Board certification (as published)	Residency (as published)	Sedation offered (as published)	Ages seen	New patients	Record checked (Sept 23, 2026)
Somerset Smile Studio Somerset	Dr. Christina Belgrave — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07021 Active	“Board Certified Pediatric Dentist”	Belgrave: Rutgers University/University Hospital	Not published	Not published	Online booking	Sept 23, 2026

Checked against the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Dentistry licensee search.

Permit status is what the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs licensee register showed on September 23, 2026, looked up by name. Board certification, residency, ages seen, sedation and new-patient wording are printed as each practice states them on its own website. Record checked names the date we last checked that practice’s record ourselves.

Nearby options

Practice and town	Specialist(s) named, and the permit as the register prints it, checked Sept 23, 2026	Board certification (as published)	Residency (as published)	Sedation offered (as published)	Ages seen	New patients	Record checked (Sept 23, 2026)
Basking Ridge Pediatric Dentistry Based in Basking Ridge	Dr. Tina Nguyen, DDS — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07465 Active Dr. Alexandra Ziarko, DDS — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Br Prmt 07520-01 Active	Nguyen: “board-certified pediatric dentist”	Nguyen: Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Ziarko: Montefiore Medical Center	Nitrous oxide; general anesthesia (site)	Children, adolescents, special needs patients	Not published	Sept 23, 2026
Branchburg Pediatric Dentistry Based in Branchburg	Dr. Devi — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice) Dr. Lapena — Dentist license Active · specialty permit under their name at another New Jersey address	Not published	Not published	Nitrous oxide; general anesthesia (site)	Not published	Appointment request	Sept 23, 2026
Hillsborough Pediatric Dentistry Based in Hillsborough	Dr. Amie Shah — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 06634 Active Dr. Chirag Patel — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice) Dr. Amy Planz — Dentist license Active · specialty permit under their name at another New Jersey address	Planz: “Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry” Shah: “board certified” Patel: “board certified pediatric dentist”	Shah: Maimonides Medical Center Patel: St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, Paterson	Nitrous oxide (site)	Children, teens, and special needs patients	Online booking	Sept 23, 2026
Montgomery Pediatric Dentistry Based in Princeton	Dr. Saloni Patel — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07633 Active Dr. Christina Ciano — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice) Dr. Geena Russo — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice)	Ciano, Russo: “Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist”	Not published	Nitrous oxide; IV sedation (site)	Not published	Online booking	Sept 23, 2026
The Children’s Dental Center Based in Somerville	Julianne Kane, D.M.D. — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice)	Not published	Brooklyn’s Lutheran Medical Center	Not published	infants, children, adolescents and special needs patients	Appointment request	Sept 23, 2026

A Note on Reading the Table

Board certification and residency are printed as each practice states them on its own website. We have not checked them against a certifying board’s own list.

The Practices

Somerset Smile Studio, Somerset

812 Hamilton St Suite 1, Somerset, NJ 08873

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Dr. Christina Belgrave — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07021 Active.

This is a general and pediatric office. Dr. Belgrave is the pediatric dentist at this office; the site also names a general and cosmetic dentist, Dr. Ekow Acquaah.

Nearby options

Basking Ridge Pediatric Dentistry, Basking Ridge

25 Mountainview Blvd, Ste 201, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Dr. Tina Nguyen, DDS — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07465 Active; Dr. Alexandra Ziarko, DDS — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Br Prmt 07520-01 Active.

Branchburg Pediatric Dentistry, Branchburg

3322 U.S. 22, Suite 201, Building #2, Branchburg, NJ 08876

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Dr. Devi — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice); Dr. Lapena — Dentist license Active · specialty permit under their name at another New Jersey address.

Hillsborough Pediatric Dentistry, Hillsborough

390 Amwell Road Building #2 Suite 201, Hillsborough, NJ 08844

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Dr. Amie Shah — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 06634 Active; Dr. Chirag Patel — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice); Dr. Amy Planz — Dentist license Active · specialty permit under their name at another New Jersey address.

The practice’s site also lists an orthodontist, Michael Goldkind, at the same address.

Montgomery Pediatric Dentistry, Princeton

211 Commons Way, Princeton, NJ 08540

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Dr. Saloni Patel — Dentist license Active · Pediatric-Pedodontic Spec Prmt 07633 Active; Dr. Christina Ciano — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice); Dr. Geena Russo — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice).

The Children’s Dental Center, Somerville

148 West End Avenue, Somerville, NJ 08876

Named on the practice’s own site, with the register record as of Sept 23, 2026: Julianne Kane, D.M.D. — Dentist license Active · Specialty permit Active (legacy type, discipline as published by the practice).

Common Questions

How do I check a license myself?

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs publishes a licensee search under Dentistry. Search by the dentist’s last name. The record shows the license number, the status and the town on file.

Verified

Verified means we checked identity, licence and published details - not service quality or results.

Every detail on this page was checked on September 23, 2026 against each practice’s own website and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs licensee register.

Additional Resources

The same guide for other markets

NJ Division of Consumer Affairs license verification

Something out of date?

If anything here is wrong or has changed — a credential, who is at the practice, insurance participation, or whether they are taking new patients — tell us and we will check it. Corrections are free, for every practice on this page. A practice that is not listed here and meets the criteria described at the top of this guide can write to the same address.

admin@gardenstatecircle.com

This is not a ranking.

Part of Franklin Township Guides