Karmaveer Bhausaheb Hiray Dental College & Hospital, Nashik

Introduction

Pedodontics or Pediatric Dentistry in broad sense means dentistry for children. It is the science & art that includes studying physical & psychological development of children, prevention and treatment of dental diseases, habits, trauma in children. It also includes knowledge of prevention and interception of malocclusion in children. Behaviour management of children is the major part of this science.

Today´s children are tomorrow´s future. Well planned and organized services offer every child an opportunity to attain its maximum physical and mental growth, development and well being.

Vision

Oral Health is the right of every child which can be achieved by imparting quality education of very high standards to the dental professionals and delivering appropriate treatment to children ensuring optimum care.

Mission

• Increase awareness and education of parents regarding importance of good dental health of children
• Creating society with healthy smile
• Propagation of the basic objectives of Pediatric Dentistry – Prevention of dental diseases & malocclusion, Restoration of the impaired function or aesthetics, Health and welfare of the affected child by imparting treatment of very high standards.
• Promoting the profession to the new generation of professionals and also to the community at large with emphasis on research, publications and presentations.

Objectives

• Create not only a good oral health in the child but also a good citizen tomorrow.
• Install a positive attitude and behaviour in children
• Understand the principles of prevention and preventive dentistry right from birth to adolescence
• Guide and counsel the parents in regards to various treatment modalities including different facets of preventive dentistry
• Prevent and intercept developing malocclusion

About the department

The department is well established in terms of space, instruments & equipments, staff members and most importantly the vast variety of patient flow. The dept is spread over almost 4000 sq ft designed in a unique child friendly manner keeping child patient in mind. It is divided into separate working areas including undergraduate clinic, postgraduate clinic, preclinical and clinical laboratory, department library, spacious seminar room with all projecting facilities, sterilization room, computer room, postgraduate room, staff room, play area for child patients and meseum. Department library is an asset with almost all the subject related books & journals available at one go. Our department is flooded with enthusiastic , knowledgeable and always encouraging staff members. The department has 31 fully loaded dental chairs, and has all the newer or latest equipments including RVG, apex locator, rubber dam, pulp tester, endo motor, different obturating systems, front loading autoclave, scalers, light cure machines. The materials provided range from older generation zinc oxide to recent MTA or vitapex too. We have a special surgical room where all minor surgical procedures are carried out. Our department is blessed with large number of patients visiting. Students and interns get to work on 40 to 50 patients a day routinely.

Treatment Modalities

• Management and treatment of dental problems exclusively of child patients up to 13 years
• Systematic Diagnosis and treatment of various dental problems under proper supervision
• Dental caries preventive measures like Pit and Fissure sealants, fluoride applications, SDF application.
• Comprehensive oral treatment and complete rehabilitation in case of Early childhood caries, nursing bottle caries
• Diet counseling to prevent dental caries
• Advanced tooth coloured fillings like composites, GIC
• One sitting Root canal treatment
• Management and treatment of traumatic injuries of hard and soft tissues
• Re-implantation of avulsed tooth
• Minor oral surgical procedures like apicectomy, gingivectomy, crown lengthening, frenectomy, operculectomy, cyst enucleation, cyst marsupialization surgical extraction under Local and General Anesthesia as per need
• Management and treatment of special children and medically compromised children
• Preventive and interceptive orthodontic treatment including habit breaking appliance, space maintainers, space regainers, cross bite, midline diastema, deep bite correction for all the irregularities in arrangement of teeth
• Full mouth rehabilitation by either crowns (esthetically pleasing strip crowns, polycarbonate crown or SS crown as per need) and or removable partial dentures
• Obturators to assist in feeding for cleft patients.
• Treatment under sedation / general anesthesia whenever required.

In the view of magnitude of the population and its heterogeneity towards imbalance, economic conditions, secularism and wide spread ignorance of the fundamentals of health and dental health education, a well organized and well coordinated efforts of health activities and an intensive campaign for dental health education are the main objectives of this department.