What is it?

Pediatric Dentistry is a branch of dentistry dealing with children right from their time of birth until they attain adolescence. Pedodontists /Pediatric dentists are specialists who treat children and provide parents with the information about their children’s dental hygiene and steps to take care of their teeth.

Children start getting their teeth when they are roughly around the age of 6 months. As they approach 6 or 7 years, they start losing their milk teeth, which are then replaced with secondary or permanent teeth.

Pedodontists take care of all these developments.

Why do we Need Pediatric Dentistry?

The Pediatric dentistry especially takes care of patients who are not adults yet and they would need a lot of patience to deal with their patients. So the pediatric dentists need to be really patient and cooperative in order to treat them. They usually try to reach a comfortability level with these children before examining and treating them.

The pediatric dentists usually design their dental clinics and their equipment trying to keep the children in mind. They usually offer a wide range of treatments, to take care of the child’s teeth, gums and mouth.

Pediatric Dentistry Treatments

Paediatric Dentistry offers different treatment options as shown below:

• Oral health examinations of Infants: this includes risk assessments for carries in both the child and its mother.
• Monitoring growth and development: of the children’s teeth and jaws.
• Preventive dental care for children: include cleaning and fluoride treatments. They will also be recommended the right diet and nutrition.
• Counselling for weaning habits: like pacifier user and thumb sucking.
• Orthodontic Treatment: like assessment and early treatment for cases of straightening teeth and also for correcting improper bite.
• Detect and repair tooth cavities: and other dental defects, including filling of teeth.
• Diagnose different oral conditions: associated with diseases like diabetes, congenital heart defects, asthma, hay fever and ADHD (Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder).
• Treatment and Management of diseases affecting the gums and other conditions of the mouth like ulcers, short frenulae, and pediatric periodontal disease.
• Provision of care for dental injuries: like fractured, displaced or knocked-out teeth.
• Diagnosis Tests: Provide X-ray examination and other diagnostic tests.
• Perform dental surgical procedures for children on the teeth and the oral cavity’s bones and soft tissues.
• Provision for safe administration of anaesthetics for procedures involving children.

Authored by DR.NIRANJAN P