What is a Pediatric Dentist
Children have special needs when it comes to dental treatment compared to adults. Their delicate mouth structures as well as their hesitancy and anxiety towards dental treatment needs extra attention for them to be able to submit in dental treatments.
Although a general dental practitioner has a background in his undergraduate studies in delivering dental treatments to children, they still lack adequate experience in handling the special needs of children. These needs could be addressed properly by pediatric dentists.
What is a pediatric dentist?
A pediatric dentist is also a dentist who had taken post graduate studies to specialize in delivering dental treatments to children. He is trained in proper management of these children because most of these kids shows anxiety when seated in a dental chair. He knows the principles behind different behaviors that a child may possess from being positive to negative dental behaviors as well as the delaying tactics that these children may exhibit during treatments. He knows how to manage these behaviors by making use of voice control, use of tokens and the use of devices to restrain children who are highly anxious such as the use of papoose board.
Pediatric dentists teach these children as well as their parents and caregivers on the proper care of the children's teeth. They provide special oral hygiene materials that children may require. For example, when the first tooth erupts, the best way to clean it, since the use of toothbrush would not still be that convenient to use, is a damp gauze pad by rubbing it to the first tooth. They make use of special equipment like techy dental materials, specialized chairs with cartoon characters, portable DVDs and other entertainment systems that would help ease out the anxiety in these children while undergoing dental treatments.
The usual treatments that is being delivered by these pediatric dentists would also differ from general dentists as well as from other dental specialists. They do perform extractions and oral prophylaxis but usually with a different approach so as not to traumatize these children with regard to dental procedures. Extra care in patient handling a must for these dentists. Aside from these common treatments, they also provide fluoride application to strengthen the teeth and to prevent caries formation. The provide pit and fissure sealants to prevent ingress of bacteria on hard to clean areas such as deep pits and grooves in teeth especially in molars that may invite cavity formation.
They also provide pulpotomy and pulpectomy as pulp treatments to teeth where the carious lesions had reached imminent or total pulp exposure especially if the succedaneous teeth are not yet ready to erupt. They also provide space maintainers to prevent drifting of the permanent teeth as well as to maintain enough space for the erupting permanent teeth. These dentists may also perform minor orthodontic treatments that children may require to prevent and correct minor malpositioning of teeth.
Pediatric dentists are of great help to us because they have the patience that other dentists don't have. They have the charisma that would make little children behave and they have the capability to impart positive dental behavior to these children and to their parents and caregivers.
