Welcome to Capital Pediatric Dentistry

Is your child’s Dentist a Pediatric Specialist? Many parents take their children to the Pediatrician for their expertise and training in the treatment of children and adolescents. This is also the idea behind the Pediatric Dentist. A Pediatric Dentist has completed an additional 2-3 years of pediatric specific education beyond dental school in an officially recognized specialty program. They are the Pediatricians of Dentistry.

There is an increasing phenomenon of practices “pretending” to be specialists in Pediatric Dentistry. They are usually general dentists who have set up a business model to emphasize the treatment of children. Now, a general dentist can legally treat children usually as part of a family practice. In fact, some general dentists do a good job but the fact remains that they do not have the additional specialty training and education of a Pediatric Dentist. In California it is illegal to call oneself a Pediatric specialist if one is not but one can legally call oneself a “children’s dentist” or “kid’s dentist” even if they have no specialty training. These practices usually do not offer the full range of services that a specialty practice offers. Marketing can easily deceive the public. Don’t assume that, if a practice looks like a pediatric dental practice, that they really are specialists. The fact is you cannot tell if an office is a true specialty practice by their name or their advertisements, you must ask specific questions and do your own research.

Make sure your child’s dentist is really a specialist in Pediatric Dentistry. If you are not sure, ask. Ask specifically if the dentist is a specialist in Pediatric Dentistry. Listen for the answer. If they say, “our dentists treat children” or, “yes, we see children” or, “our practice is dedicated to treating children”, they really did not answer your question. You need to be specific and get a specific answer. A great way to determine if your dentist is a true Pediatric specialist is to search for them on the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry website (www.abpd.org). Only specialty trained Pediatric Dentists can become Board Certified by the ABPD and only after they complete rigorous written and oral testing to prove their knowledge and expertise in the field. Now, sometimes there is a group practice that does actually have a Pediatric specialist on staff. However, is the dentist that is treating your child the specialist? It could be that most of the dentists seeing your child are actually general dentists. Ask. Your children are your greatest investment, don’t they deserve the best?