Paediatric dentists: what to ask your potential expert
Paediatric, or childrens dentists, are specially trained to provide dental care to kids. Naturally, treating adults and kids is an entirely different ball game, and so it takes extra training to ensure they can provide a special level of care and compassion for any worried youngsters. What’s more, they are specially trained to treat the differing problems that may arise with a child’s oral health, as these are different in adolescence!
If you have a child who needs specific care, and you want an expert in youth dentistry to provide care, then you probably have a few questions about the process. After all, your child’s health is the most important thing in your world, and so you want to ensure you have the right expert taking care of them!
With this in mind, here are some valuable questions to ask your potential youth dentist:
- Are you fully qualified to provide this dentistry?
The best childrens dentist Chatswood has will be fully qualified to provide this specialised treatment. In Australia, paediatric experts must be trained for a further three years on top of their initial dental training to receive a qualification in Paediatric Dentistry.
Therefore, if you speak to an expert who claims to know what they’re doing in this field but doesn’t have the qualification, then they are not actually a specialised expert in this field and will likely only have a generalised idea of how to provide this treatment!
- How many years have you been in the industry?
Naturally, with any form of healthcare, the more experience, the better! Therefore, you should ask your potential expert how long they have been providing this level of care? If they have just come out of dentistry school then, sure, that’s fine, as they will obviously have the training and qualifications to provide specialised treatment.
However, you should be aiming to enlist a professional with many years of experience in their repertoire. They will have dealt with every problem you can imagine, ensuring they have the experience and knowledge of what to do in all kinds of specialised cases.
- My child is experiencing (this) - what does it sound like to you?
This is a great way to gauge just how experienced the provider actually is. They should be able to hear about your child’s ailment and have a general idea of what the problem (or problems) may be, displaying a level of care and knowledge that proves their experience in the field.
If they are unable to provide any form of general explanation as to what may be the problem, there is a chance that they don’t have the experience to provide adequate treatment, and should perhaps be avoided as a result.
- What habits can my child avoid to prevent future issues?
Any professional paediatric dentist should be able to provide case-specific ideas as to how to prevent future dental problems. Naturally, there will be the classics: twice-daily brushing, flossing etc. but there may or may not be extra care practices your child could follow to prevent their current problem from developing any further.
Obviously, this is all part of treatment, and so they should be able to provide some quality advice for post-treatment aftercare!
- When can we come in?
So, once you’re sure that the expert you have chosen is right for your family, it’s time to book in their appointment and start the journey towards tip-top dental health!