We do what we were taught in dental school despite time and research passing us by. We sometimes jump on the bandwagon because something sounds good but may be of dubious scientific backing. In this presentation, we’ll look at commonly held but not scientifically based myths in kid’s dentistry that have been perpetuated by dentists and the “Lay” media for years (including many old wives’ tales). These will include local anesthesia, restorations and crowns and the infamous MID and what it really means, endodontics and preventive dentistry, growth and development, and behavior management. We’ll look at the difference between common sense, science, and fact less fantasy.

Learn:
How to read and evaluate literature and critically assess what we have been taught

To incorporate valid science into our treatment planning and procedures

Does teething exist?

Frenectomy, frenotomy, frenuloplasty - what does it mean?

Bruxing and grinding? He must be stressed

Do we really have to block him?

Confronted with a bombed out primary tooth and don’t know which way to turn? You treat mega-adult cases with implants and prostheses but you’re scared of a baby tooth attached to a kid? This workshop allows you to perform pulp therapy on primary molars and improves skills on esthetic and full coverage SSC restorations. Treatment is performed on typodont teeth with pulp chambers for realism.

Sometimes our treatments fail. When that happens we need to extract the primary tooth and maintain space for the erupting permanent tooth. We will review the indications for and types of unilateral and bilateral space maintainers. Practice will be on chairside Gerber band and loop, a lingual holding arch and a space regaining appliance.

Are you totally confused on how to treat teeth in children? Don’t they all fall out anyway? And what about the kid they’re attached to? This course reviews local anesthesia, pulp therapy, restorations and space maintenance in the primary and early mixed dentitions. Minimally invasive dentistry will be discussed and analyzed including LSTR, Hall crowns and SDF while learning that minimally invasive may not be pain free. The attendee will learn to embrace a treatment paradigm that includes function and longevity, review treatment and understand risk factors for pulp therapy and aesthetic and functional restorations and see ways to easily determine which space maintainer (even cosmetic ones) to use when extraction is the option.

Do you dread Monday mornings and the weekend emergencies that follow? Have you gone into the office only to find an emergency was an exfoliating tooth? Does your front staff respond appropriately to real dental emergencies by screening fully and communicating to the back? We will review the most common dental emergencies in children as well as assessment, treatment and follow-up protocols. The process from initial phone call screening through scheduling will be analyzed helping your office seamlessly integrate emergencies.