Children's Dentistry
What is a Children's Dentistry? Well, simply put, it is the specialty of dentistry dealing with the oral health of children.
More specifically and officially, it deals with both the primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care of children from birth to age 21 including those with special health care needs such as Cerebral Palsy or Down's syndrome. It is the only specialty in dentistry that is age defined, not procedure defined. In fact the official name is Pediatric Dentistry. It is one of the recognized specialties of dentistry. Our national organization is the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
When your child is sick you take your child to a Pediatrician. So, in Medicine, there is Pediatrics. In Dentistry, there is Pediatric Dentistry. Originally, we Pediatric Dentists were called "Pedodontists" and we practiced "Pedodontics". Some people got confused with the name and would, from time to time think we were foot doctors! So, they changed the official name so there is no confusion.
Since we provide comprehensive care that means we do a little bit of everything. When a child or teen comes into our office, we will often clean the teeth, take diagnostic x-rays, apply preventive fluoride treatments and give oral hygiene instructions. If we find a problem, we will restore a tooth with a filling or a crown. If the need is there, we may have to remove a tooth or do some other kind of oral surgery. Part of the care we provide is orthodontics or "braces." Although, in our office, we have an orthodontist on staff that handles most of our patient’s orthodontic treatment. Pediatric Dentists are trained to do braces as well. And yes, we see teens up to the age of 21. We even have patients older than that if they are still in University and not on their own yet.
Much of what a Pediatric Dentist is known for is our behavior management skills. Somehow, we have to get a three year old child to sit still, lie down, open his mouth, allow an anesthetic injection, remove or wash out decay, and place fillings all without moving around or crying. Well, that's the idea anyways. Hey, I do it every day, but it's not always easy. With training and experience, we use the most likely methods to achieve the desired goal. Sometimes it's just talking with a child or guiding him through a procedure. Sometimes pharmacologic medications or laughing gas helps out. Sometimes there is just no way to do what we need without going to the hospital and completing extensive treatment with the patient under general anesthesia. So, you can see, there is a fine art of treating the patients dental condition, but doing it in a manner that is as easy as possible, accommodates parental preferences and does so in a cost effective manner. I just have to say, many people and dentists too say how difficult it must be to deal with the kids all day. Well, I'll tell you the kids are easy, it's the parents that usually more difficult to deal with.
Hey, in Pediatric Dentistry, it's not all about drilling and filling, brushing and flossing. It's about caring about the children behind those wonderful smiles!
Here is a link to our office web site for more info: APDA
Here are some answers to some common questions from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry: AAPD Frequently Asked Questions
Labels: Dental School
posted by Dr. Dean Brandon @ 1:30 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Dr. Dean,
I happened upon your site in a search. About a week and a half ago my son fell and hit his mouth on the sidewalk. This caused his two top front teeth to cut him inside his mouth (just behind the lip). The cut has since healed, but I have noticed that the one tooth seems to be slightly gray when compared to the others. Was there possible damamge done to the tooth? Or would it just be bruised in that area causing it to look gray? I'd appreciate if you could help me out. Thanks. Ben
Ben,
I am sorry to hear of your child's accident. As you did not mention his age, I will answer this way: If it was a baby tooth that is turning dark you are likely ok, if it is a permanent tooth then I am more concerned about the darkening. I have a post on the blog just about this subject. I think this will link to it: My Child's Tooth is Turning Dark!
I see all shades of gray, so to speak. It can be just a little gray just when the light hits just right or it can be a really purply dark color.
Thanks. He is two years old. Your info really helped!
My children's dentist just recently told us to give our children a fluoride wash. After telling a friend she told me her dentist said that was a bad idea because fluoride has been linked to childhood leukemia. What should I do?
I've never heard of anything of the kind in the scientific and dental literature. If you stick to multiple peer reviewed long term controlled studies over many years you will get as reliable an answer as is possible. Even well educated well intentioned people do not have all the information, that's why there are whole professions devoted to providing the best answers. I base my decisions on the best possible researched information.
Let's put it this way, I give my own children fluoride treatments in the office and fluoride toothpaste at home and I recommend rinses and varnishes when indicated to my patients.
Dr. Dean,
My daughter recently visted a dentist for a check up. She has a chipped tooth at the front due to a fall. Now previously she was told that nothing can be done untill she was 16yrs old (now 9yrs). The dentist that preformed the check up said that she can have a cap fitted. I am some what concerned of this, so my question is, is she to young for a cap to be fitted? Thanks. Sarah
I don't do many permanent porcelain crowns till children have finished growing, usually in the later teens. Each case is different however.
Dr. Dean,
My 8 year old daughter just came back from the dentist and I have a few questions that I was hoping you could answer for me. First of all what is a pulp treatment and is it necessary in an 8 year old? Also, he told us that she needed to have 2 crowns put on her molar teeth is this completely necessary or would fillings be good enough? Lastly, our dentist gives Nitrous Oxide when he works on our girls teeth, is there any reason to give this other than to "calm their nerves"? I am beginning to think that him not using this so my girls could see how uncomfortable the dentist really is would make them take better care of their teeth. Thanks for your help, Melanie
I very much disagree with the concept that children should fear dental treatment or should be made to be uncomfortable at the dentist. My experience is that if kids have a generally good time at the dentist they will take better of their teeth and get regular dental care. I cannot say as to specific treatment, but I usually (not always) but almost always, use nitrous oxide for operative dentistry especially if the child is a little anxious. There is a lot of info on this blog that you may want to spend some time reading about. I encourage you to spend some time checking out this information. I think you would find it enlightening.
Post a Comment
<< Home