How to Choose A Pedodontist
What Does a Pedodontist Do?
If you’ve got small children, you may want to choose a pedodontist or pediatric dentist for dental care. Oral hygiene can begin as soon as you bring your newborn home from the hospital. You should schedule the first dental appointment as soon as baby teeth appear, but definitely by the first birthday.
Similar to a pediatrician who meets the health needs of children, a pedodontist specializes in meeting the special needs of working with the teeth of toddlers and adolescents. A pedodontist has special skills and knowledge about working with the mouths of developing children.
The pedodontist may perform all the activities of a dentist such as filling cavities, extracting teeth, and diagnosing dental disease, but with a special focus on performing these treatments in the smaller mouths of younger patients. A pedodontist is also important in the early education of younger patients regarding lifetime oral wellness and proper dental hygiene techniques.
A pedodontist will:
- Examine, diagnose, and treat dental issues in pediatric patients.
- Make space maintainers as necessary to maintain proper alignment in adolescent teeth.
- Treat primary and secondary teeth to ensure proper alignment and placement as the child’s mouth grows.
- Manage and treat children with special dental needs and requirements.
- Advise parents and caregivers on dental concerns.
- Provide preventive dental care through fluoride or sealants where applicable.
- Provide the child and parent with an education regarding the need for proper oral hygiene.
How to Choose a Pedodontist
- Use the information at ChooseYourDentist.com to help narrow down your choices.
- Ask about the special techniques the practice uses to care for children.
- Find out if the practice is using the latest equipment to minimize pain and maximize results.
- Check out their dental qualifications. The basic dental degree is a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD).
- The dental professional should also have completed an additional two- to three-year program specifically focusing on the area of pediatric dentistry. Ask about any continuing education classes on childhood dental procedures.
- Ask about privacy standards.
- Ask for patient referrals.
- Find out if they have any additional patient education information for children such as a newsletter or website page.
Dental-Consultants.Com is your go-to source for dental information and dental education. Use our dental profiles to help find a pedodontist for your family because Dental-Consultants.Com is “where patients and dentists connect.”
