pediatric dentistry Archives - Page 2 of 3

Dentists: Do You Treat Kids? (video)

May 18, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey that asked dentists if they treat pediatric patients.

Pediatric dentistry isn’t as profitable as cosmetic dentistry, but it’s rarely about the money.

Pediatric dentistry is a good thing to do for your community, but only if you like doing it.

“If you treat children like gold, you’ll see their mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents as well!” said a Virginia dentist.

Pediatric dental patients can provide a whole new set of family patients. But not all doctors are cut out to be a children’s dentist.

“I break out in hives when I treat anyone under 18!” said an Indiana dentist.

Click on play to watch the survey video and hear the full survey results –

Cosmetic Dentistry Still Tops the List of Services Dentists Offer

May 18, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

When asked what services their dental practice offers, the dentists who responded with cosmetic dentistry were the clear majority in this survey.

More aging baby boomers are turning to cosmetic dentistry to improve the appearance of their teeth, which may explain the increase in demand for cosmetic dentistry services.

Dental implants are the most popular dental treatment among this demographic for the replacement of damaged or missing teeth.

A California dentist shared, “More than half of our practice is dental implants now!”

Here at The Wealthy Dentist, we were curious what services dentists are currently offering. The top services offered by dentists who responded to this survey are cosmetic, tooth whitening, dental implants, dentures, and children’s dentistry.

Here’s a breakdown of the services dentists are offering —

Dentists were disappointed that other services were not included in this survey, like Botox, oral cancer screenings, or offering custom mouthguards for patient athletes.

One prosthodontist noted, “Oral cancer screening and testing was not on the survey list. Also, it would be interesting to know how many offices provide Botox.”

A general dentist responded that he now offers same day service for CEREC restorations as part of his dental practice services.

Another dentist answered tongue-in-cheek, “I don’t offer gum disease, I treat it.”

What dental services does your dental practice offer? Has the demand for cosmetic dentistry increased?

Where is your dental marketing focused?

Filed Under: Dental Marketing, Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Cosmetic Dentistry, dental implants, Dental Marketing, dental survey, dental surveys, dental treatment marketing, dental treatments, dentist, dentistry, dentists, dentures, gum disease, Invisalign, pediatric dentistry, root canal, sedation dentistry, survey, TMJ, tooth whitening, Wisdom Teeth

Pediatric Sedation Dentistry (Survey Video)

April 16, 2013 By Jim Du Molin

Pediatric sedation dentistry can be a valuable part of children’s dentistry.

In this survey of dentists, 68% say they are in favor of children’s sedation dentistry. Note that when we asked the same question in 2010, only 52% were in favor.

“It requires extensive training and case selection is very important,” warned a pediatric dentist.

Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey discuss what dentists think about pediatric sedation dentistry:

“At our office, an MD anesthesiologist provides sedation while I perform the dentistry,” said a Missouri dentist.

“I have been doing all forms of sedation for over 30 years,” said a Texas periodontist. “Young children are very brittle and administration requires advanced training for the safest outcomes.”

“It’s the only way to treat some kids,” sighed a Georgia dentist. “I sure am thankful that I can refer to someone who does it as I would not want the liability and stress myself!”

It’s important to remember that kids are dental patients too! And sedation dentistry is a real boon to many dental patients.

Do you have any further thoughts on pediatric sedation dentistry?

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: children's dentist, Children's Dentistry, children's sedation, dental survey, dental videos, dentist survey, pediatric dentist, pediatric dentistry, pediatric dentists, pediatric sedation, pediatric sedation dentist, pediatric sedation dentistry, pediatric sedation dentists, sedation dentistry, sedation dentists, survey, survey video, video

Dentists: BPA is Back Making Front Page Dental News Again

July 31, 2012 By Jim Du Molin

Bisphenol A (also known as BPA), a chemical used in lightweight plastics, dental sealants and dental fillings is back making news headlines once again.

First, the federal government announced this month that baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain BPA.

This was followed by reports from a new study stating that children getting dental fillings made with BPA are more likely to have behavior and emotional problems later in life.

The study, as reported in Pediatrics Online, “makes a strong case that in the short-term, use of BPA-containing dental materials should be minimized,” asserts Philip Landrigan, director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

The researchers in the study tracked 534 children with cavities from when each child received their first dental fillings. Over the following 5 years, the researchers noted that those children who had cavities filled with a composite material containing traces of BPA consistently scored 2 – 6 points less on 100-point behavior assessments than those who didn’t have fillings.

As reported in Science News, the researchers never administered clinical diagnostic behavioral tests to the children.

Instead, they periodically administered some widely used checklists to the children or their parents, allowing each to self-assess features such as a child’s attitudes toward teachers or others, depression, self-esteem, attention problems, delinquent behaviors, acting-out or problems with attentiveness.

Since the children were 6-12 years old at the time, these type of behaviors are not uncommon for children living with a variety of circumstances like divorce, bullying, and problems at home.

However researchers argue that the behavior problems being reported seemed to happen more with the children who had BPA fillings, causing them to believe that some dental fillings may start to break down over time, thus exposing these children to the chemical.

The U.S. government is currently spending $30 million on its own BPA research to determine the chemical’s health effects on humans.

As a dentist, what are your thoughts on the use of BPA?

For more on this story see: Putting BPA-based Dental Fillings in Perspective

Filed Under: Dental Editorials, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Bisphenol A, BPA, Dental Amalgam, Dental Editorials, dental fillings, Dental News, dental research, dental science, dental sealants, dentist, dentistry, dentists, FDA, pediatric dentistry

Science Friday: Will Dentists See The End to Cavities in Their Lifetime?

July 13, 2012 By Jim Du Molin

Dentists may see the end to cavities in their lifetime.

At least this is what researchers José Córdoba from Yale University and Erich Astudillo from the University of Chile are hoping will happen.

These two researchers have uncovered a new molecule that kills the bacteria that causes cavities in just 60 seconds.

The new molecule is named Keep 32, after the 32 teeth in the human mouth.

Córdoba and Astudillo report that the molecule can be added to dental care products, telling Diario Financiero Online, “The molecule can not only be incorporated into a gum, but in products like toothpastes, mouthwashes, dental floss, candies, lollipops, dental night gel and others who items that can be kept inside the mouth for at least 60 seconds.”

The 60 second time frame is what’s needed to kill all the Streptococcus Mutans bacteria. The Strep-Mutans bacteria converts sugar in the mouth to lactic acid which eats away at tooth enamel.

Reasearchers remain optomistic, with having completed seven years of successful testing and are now set to start human trials. They further hope that products will be available on the consumer market in about 14 to 18 months if everything continues as planned.

Studies have revealed that more than 1/4 of U.S. children between ages 2 and 5 suffer from severe tooth decay with no end in sight for this trend, but if dentists can get these at-risk kids to at least chew a special gum after they eat, they may be able to reverse the cavity epidemic in pediatric dental care.

Dentists, do you think you will see the end to cavities in your lifetime?

For more on this story see: Can “Keep 32” Chemical Keep You Cavity-free?