Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Role of a Pediatric Dentist in Ensuring Dental Care for Infants and Children

A pediatric dentist is a specialist who has extensive training and a considerable experience in caring and treating children`s oral health. This discipline focuses on child psychology, management and every aspect of highly specialized pediatric restorative methods and modalities. For example, some specialize in dealing with special needs of patients who have autism, mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Pediatric dentistry puts more emphasize in nurturing of trust and confidence between the children and the specialist. The major component of training is children psychology. This is manifested in pediatric dentist communication style, office special designs and their focus on preventive dental care training to the parents.

The pediatric dentists have vast experiences and they are highly qualified in providing care for the children`s gums, teeth and mouth through various stages of their childhood. Further, he provides a range of services such as preventive care, education concerning children's nutrition that helps a child to grow healthy teeth, sealants to teeth, coloring, fillings, fluoride treatment and early interceptive orthodontics. Pediatric dentist helps the children to build a healthy smile in their formative years and ensures the children have a healthy development and growth. In addition, he able to diagnose children`s dental concerns at earlier stages, thus helping the parents to avoid a more extensive and costly correction dental procedures for their children later in life.

A pediatric dentist puts a special focus in prevention of children`s teeth decay. This is important because of various studies that indicate poor children oral health care can undermine their academic performance and greatly impairs their social relationship. Hence, pediatric dentist advices the parents on how to help their children in growing strong and healthy teeth and the need of healthy eating habits and how to prevent teeth diseases. Moreover, pediatric dentist ensures that the children`s primary teeth are in good condition until they are lost naturally. This is due to the fact that the primary teeth play a very important role in allowing the children to chew various foods and thus maintaining good nutrition. In addition, the primary teeth play an important role in children speech development and maintain a space for eventual growth of the permanent teeth.

Good dental hygiene of the children is wholly dependent on team work involving the parents and pediatric dentist in order to maintain the children`s health and bright smile in their lifetime. Parents need to know that as the child grow up from their infancy to their teens. Also, their dental needs changes. Further, role of the dental specialist changes as the children enters adolescence. Recognizing the increasing needs for their patient's self-image and appearance, a pediatric dentist works to guarantee that the adolescent's dental needs are taken care of. He also promotes the children`s dental health care and acts as an educational resource for the parents.

A pediatric dentist trains the parents on preventative home care program for their children which encompass brushing, flossing and fluoride treatment. Further, he trains parents on how to carry risk assessment and advices them on how to prevent injuries to the teeth and month of children and information on children`s growth and development. Other services provided includes assessment of children`s teeth in order to straighten them and correct any improper orthodontics. A pediatric dentist performs infant oral exam to assess risk for caries in child and mother. In addition, he diagnoses oral conditions linked with diseases like congenital heart defects, diabetes and attention deficit disorder.

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