The dental care that children receive in their early years can influence their oral health for the rest of their lives, according to Kathleen Schultz, DMD, a pediatric dentist at Northwell Health. Dr. Schultz noted, “So many studies have shown that children who have traumatic dental experiences grow up to have difficult time as an adult in the dental chair.” She explained that cavities and gum disease can cause sharp pain for young patients who are not yet used to dealing with discomfort.
To help prevent negative experiences, pediatric dentists focus on creating environments that are fun, comfortable, and clean. Dr. Schultz described how renaming dental tools can make procedures less intimidating for children. “We don’t call it a saliva ejector,” she said. “Because that sounds like a scary thing to a kid. We might call that Mr. Thirsty. All of a sudden, you’ve made that a silly, fun thing. How can we make this environment a silly, fun, and less scary environment?”
Dr. Schultz emphasized the dual responsibility of pediatric dentists: providing expert dental care while also managing patient behavior to reduce fear and anxiety during visits. “Our goal is to stabilize the patient and get them out of pain and disease while setting them up to be good dental patients as an adult,” she said.
Pediatric dentists receive specialized training beyond general dentistry through pediatric dental residencies where they learn about child psychology and effective treatment approaches for children with various needs.
Parents whose children have special health care needs are encouraged to seek care from any trained pediatric dentist. According to Dr. Schultz: “All pediatric dentists, as a function of their training, have the capacity to take care of children with special health care needs, including neurodivergent patients… Any pediatric dentist in the community is able to take care of those types of patients.”
Common conditions treated by pediatric dentists often relate to poor oral hygiene or dietary habits such as high sugar intake from candy or soda, infrequent brushing or flossing, dry mouth conditions, or insufficient fluoride exposure.
Experts recommend parents help their children brush with fluoridated toothpaste twice daily for two minutes each time and begin daily flossing when teeth touch each other. Regulating sugar consumption is also advised; Dr. Schultz suggests gradual changes like diluting sugary juices with water if eliminating sugar entirely is unrealistic.
Pediatric dentists also play an important role in caring for children born with cleft lip or palate—a condition usually detected before birth via ultrasound scans and requiring surgery within the first year of life followed by ongoing monitoring using X-rays and consultations with orthodontists from age six into early adulthood.
Children affected by cleft lip or palate typically receive coordinated treatment from multidisciplinary teams comprising craniofacial surgeons, oral surgeons, orthodontists, ear-nose-and-throat doctors and other specialists who work together on surgical planning and long-term management.
