Pediatric Dentistry

The Pediatric Dental Team typically sees patients from newborns to eight-years-old and special needs patients to age 18.

Pediatric dentists will typically perform all of the general dental care procedures, usually not including adult root canals. They are specifically trained to provide oral conscious sedation as a tool to make their young patients comfortable and provide a safe treatment environment.  Oral conscious sedation will make patients “sleepy” but will not inhibit their ability to react to stimuli. Another adjunct is the use of nitrous oxide analgesia which also helps relax and calm fearful patients. Pediatric Dentistry consists of:

• Restoring the primary teeth - pulpotomies (baby teeth root canals)
• Amalgams and tooth colored restorations
• Prefabricated stainless steel crowns (for severely compromised teeth)
• Composite anterior crowns (tooth colored crowns for the front baby teeth)

In addition, Pediatric Dentists have advanced training in pediatric life support, patient management, and treating patients in a hospital setting. The following examples are commonly seen by the Pediatric Dental Team:

• A four-year-old patient presents to emergency room with severe facial swelling due to infected/neglected primary tooth
• A cancer patient needs immediate extensive dental treatment in the hospital operating room (to clear dental) before a bone marrow transplant
• A Downs Syndrome patient has been turned away at other dental facilities and “just wants a front tooth fixed.”