The American Dental Association (ADA) defines the specialty of pediatric dentistry as “an age-defined specialty that provides both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescents, including those with special health care needs.” This article will address the idea of “kid’s time”, which is one aspect of the field that can make your experiences at a pediatric dentist’s office different from that at general dentist’s office.
Pediatric dentists have been described as the pediatricians of dentistry. In order to be called a pediatric dentist, a dentist must complete a two-year pediatric residency after completing a four-year dental degree. This residency prepares pediatric dentists for working with children of all ages, as well as special needs patients.
In catering completely to children, we build our practices as if we were looking through the eyes of a child. Everything from the décor to the size of the dental chairs and instruments are prepared entirely for children. Pediatric dentists create an environment that is aimed toward keeping children of all ages engaged and comfortable during their dental visit.
With this is mind, it’s important for adults to realize that when you enter a pediatric dental office, it’s all about the kids. Pediatric dental offices operate on “kid’s time”. That means that if a child needs additional time and attention in order to make the most of his/her dental visit, this will be accommodated.
Our young patients may handle a first check-up or cleaning appointment very differently from an appointment where the dentist is treating decay. Every effort is made to make these experiences go as smoothly as possible, but, sometimes, extra time and attention is required to calm an anxious patient. Most of the time, scheduling is planned appropriately so as to avoid running behind throughout the day, but we do like to remind the parents that unexpected delays can occur as we are giving all patients as much time as they need to feel comfortable.
So if you encounter some unexpected wait time with your child at your next dental visit, please try and be patient and remind yourself that your child too, will be given as much time as he/she needs to feel comfortable. This is just one of the ways that pediatric dentists do all that they can to develop healthy relationships with their patients, that will hopefully lead to a lifetime of good dental health!
Perimeter Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics 