What Makes Pediatric Dentistry Special?

Children seem to have everything good sets aside for them. The same seems to apply in dentistry, where there is A dentistry for children, specifically set aside for their oral needs. It is easy to think that children do not have many dental needs, because they are still growing and developing. However, a pediatric dentist near you will tell you that children have many different oral needs right from infancy.

To know that a kids’ dentist is specialized in catering to all the dental needs of children should be encouraging for parents. At Columbia, SC is that children smile better because of excellent oral health.

What Is Pediatric Dentistry?

It is a specialty of dentistry concerned will all the oral health need of children as early as infancy, through to the teenage years. Children’s oral needs keep changing as they grow up. At one point, you do not need to worry about teeth, and is just a short while, you are concerned about the growth of permanent teeth.

The different stages of oral development for children, keep pediatric dentists at Kids First Dental busy.

What Is Different About Pediatric Dentistry?

Even though the needs covered in pediatric dentistry are still oral related, it is a unique specialty of dentistry. Some of the factors that make it special are:

1. Kid-friendly environment – if you walk into a dental clinic for children, you will quickly pick up that this setup is specifically created in a child-friendly manner. The goal is to ensure that children feel safe in such a setup, helping them to overcome issues like dental anxiety. Such an environment will have a mixture of bright primary colors, toys, and different forms of entertainment relevant to kids.
2. Friendly staff – hardly will you ever find an intimidating dental expert in a children’s dental clinic. Most of them have invested they are time and energy into cultivating friendly fronts that would work great for children. It is also a strategy to ensure that kids find dental expect approachable, treating them more as friends rather than medical experts to be feared.
3. Pediatric dental training – Pediatric dentists have not just invested in dentistry. Ideally, they have relevant training in different areas of child development, which allows them to offer dental services that much better. Some of the areas you can rest assured that a dentist for children is trained on include the following:
   • Child trauma management
   • Conscious sedation dentistry
   • Habit counseling
   • Healthy eating and nutritional counseling
   • Sleep training and diagnosis
   • Dental emergencies

Which Services are Offered in Pediatric Dentistry?

One thing you must understand is that pediatric dentistry covers all fronts of oral health. Essentially, any part of the oral cavity of a child is catered to proficiently in pediatric dental care. Some of the most common services that are offered in this specialty of dentistry include the following:

1. Dental cleanings – these are professional sessions where a dental hygienist or dentist cleans the mouth of a child. It is meant for boosting oral hygiene, especially since children are not the best at it.
2. Oral hygiene training – if you want your child to learn, at an early age, how to clean their mouth thoroughly, take them to a pediatric dental clinic. The dental experts for children know their way around oral hygiene practices and how best to train children.
3. Fluoride treatment – this falls under preventive dentistry. It involves using fluoride, and natural mineral, too, and reached teeth with the necessary nutrients to keep them strong and healthy. It is also a great way to fight dental caries and tooth decay.
4. Dental sealants – they are special types of dental fillings that are created to protect the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. Oral sealants are popularly used to help kids fight against dental cavities, which they are very prone to, between the ages of 6 and 14 years.
5. Habit counseling – Do you have a hard time getting your child to quit bad habits? Although habits may be easy to pick up, they are difficult to quit. For kids, you need the help of an expert to help them quit bad oral habits like thumbsucking, teeth grinding, and using a pacifier, to mention a few.
6. Nutritional counseling – it involves teaching your child how to eat healthily for the sake of their oral health. Getting a child to eat an apple over candy is not easy, which is why you need a dentist for children.