Dentistry is an integral part of medicine. Dentists are vital facilitators in providing good and reliable comprehensive healthcare. What’s more, is that the modern lifestyle which people live now is causing more and more dental problems. Statistics show a sharp rise in dental ailments in the past few decades. It’s interesting to note that since people are moving more towards manufactured food from home-cooked food, dental problems are increasing.
These dental problems are not equally distributed among different demographic groups. Different sections of the population have different propensities towards different diseases.
One important age group that is suffering from an increase in dental ailments is children. Dental ailments in children have increased exponentially in the last few decades. Among the children, those belonging to wealthier families tend to have more dental ailments.
This is due to two reasons.
- The first one is that wealthier families are more likely to get even minor ailments looked at by a dentist.
- The second one is that, they consume a greater amount of manufactured food.
Junk food and sugary or sweet foods can negatively affect dental health in children. Fortunately, Pediatric dentistry comes to the rescue.
#1 Definition
Pediatric dentistry is defined as dentistry which deals with children. It encompasses a wide variety of procedures, surgeries and treatments which are meant solely for children. Pediatric dentistry is generally used to refer to any dentistry that is performed on children or is meant to be performed for children.
However, it is more specifically used to refer to the treatment of ailments which occur in children using tailored procedures. Children make up a large segment of the population at any point in time so it’s important they receive specialised dental care.
#2 Why is it important?
Children are an integral part of a family and their parents want them to have good dental care. Dental care for children is not easy since they aren’t always able to understand the situation or comply with what the dentist wants. Performing dental procedures on a child can require a great deal of persuasion unlike dental procedures which are performed on an adult. Moreover, the dental anatomy a child needs to be handled with special care since it can have lasting repercussions.
#3 Why is it a separate field?
The dental anatomy of a child is quite different from that of an adult. A child’s teeth are still growing, their roots are more pliable. Milk teeth fall off and are replaced by permanent ones. Their wisdom teeth are yet to come out. All of these factors contribute to the fact that a child’s dental anatomy is different from those of adults. It also required specialised care so that the growth of a child’s teeth is not hampered by dental procedures.
Certain adult dental procedures cannot be performed on children and certain ones meant for children cannot be performed on adults. This necessitates that a clear-cut niche is carved out for Pediatric Dentistry.
#4 Does it offer any significant benefits?
Yes, it does. Pediatric dentistry has greatly enhanced dental health of the population over the years. Timely therapeutic intervention at a juvenile phase ensures that a small ailment does not extrapolate to a big one over time. Performing dental adjustments in children allow them to grow up to be healthy individuals with no dental ailments or abnormalities.
The aforementioned points have made it obvious that Pediatric dentistry is a complex field. Dentists need to have great skill and competence to practice Pediatric dentistry. Clinics like Duluth Pediatric Dentistry have greatly helped in providing reliable Pediatric dental care and have helped in the advancement of the field.
