Pedodonticts

[UofM01]

Hi everyone, I was researching some of the dental specialites and came across Pedo. I have worked and shadowed at a dental office for several years now and not once have we referred to a Pedodontist. Does anyone know anything about the field? I mean I think it is important if you cannot get the kid to sit down after really trying to just refer them to the specialist in Pedo. I just have never actually seen it done. Seems like a field that is really not used all that much from what I have seen. If anyone can shed some light on this I would really appreciate it. And if your a Pedodontist do not take any offense it is just my opinion from what I have been exposed too. Thanks

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[steiner19er]

I have never been to a pedo-dds, but my cousin just went. He had 2 teeth filled for a mere $500. They make good money, they don't work on just young kids, they work on difficult kids, as well as the "slower, short bus children" (my cousin is one). Its a speciality, maybe 2 years, but you really need to have the personality and the patience for it

 

[DrJeff]

I love to take the pedo I refer to out to lunch and thank him frequently!! While I treat alot of the kids of my adult patients, there are those "special" individuals for whom I can't fill that referral slip out quick enough! One of the guys that I went to dental school with was telling me a couple of weeks ago that many of the kids that he sees need that "extra" attention. He also told me that many of the referring dentists in his area don't treat any kids and send them all to him.

It truely takes a special personality to be a pedodontist, and I'm real glad that I have one in my area to send some kids to

 

[JML1DDS]

A pediatric dentist is a specialist dealing with primary and young permanent dentitions as well as special needs and medically compromised children. Most general dentists won't see children younger than 5yrs and most general dentists can competently treat the routine cases which tend t comprise approx. 70% of children. The amount and extent to which GP's treat children depends on the school the dds graduated from and the amount of predoc. pedo. experience he/she received. Most GP's do not have much experience treating disorders in the mixed dentition and or pedo. oral path. Interceptive orthodontics is another area where GP's lack. Many GP's don't have a good understanding of space maintenance and when to/when not to use it. Even more important No dental school I know of gives experience in sedation of children to dental students, therefore, except for those GP's having GPR experience they do not know/nor should they attempt to sedate a child for a dental visit. Pedo. also do surgical cases in the Hosptial O.R. where the child is seen under general anesthesia. A GP' (except for GPR grad.s) cannot get hosptial privaleges to do this. In my residency, we treat children with ALL, Static Encephalopathy, Spina Bifida, Down's Sydrome, Epidermolysis Bullosa, various cardiac problems, seizure disorders, SLE, etc. Most GP's can't remember their path. well enough to treat these kids and are glad to get them out of their chair and into a pedo. office. The age group that is most likely to visit the dentist is 5 - 17 yrs old. Seventy-Five percent of all children seen by dentists are seen by GP's there are not enough Pedo. to see them all. Not only is Pedo. a much needed specialty there are not enough.

 

[Dr. Pedo]

JML or Dr. Jeff,

A quick question. I'm extremely interested in Peds. I'm finishing up my first year of dental school and would really like to focus my attention to this specialty. I'm an older student near the almighty 30 mark and know that I have the patience and drive to be a peds. dentist. My concern is the age to debt ratio. My wife has been by my side through many situations, however, she can't fathom why I would want to spend another 2 yrs in peds. training. She has a good point----I'll be 35 and ~$200,000+ in the hole. My question is will I be able to practice what I love and be able to make enough money to be rewarded for my skills? Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not money hungry (anyone with half a brain realizes spending 4-6 years making zip while spending $200,000, to learn how to make $150,000 is not a sound business investment <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> ) however, I would like to be able to pay back my debt and support my family. What type of income could one expect in peds?

Thanks for your time---RRB

 

[JML1DDS]

Pedo. is extremely lucrative. A general dentist on avg. will start out as an associate for about $70k possibly up to $90k which will increase if you buy into the practice or buy the practice. Pedo. is in short supply. Very needed. The avg. Pedo. working 4 days a week will easily avg. $200-$250k a year, however if you do alot of hospital cases and have a really good recal system it is very easy to make much more. The avg. Pedo (private practice) in Dallas/Ft. Worth makes approx. $300k a yr working 4 to 4 1/2 days. Pedo. is extremely EXTREMELY competetive now for the main reasons that it is very very lucrative, only two years compared to 3 and 6 years for perio and OMFS, many Pedo. do Ortho. also, and it is easy and fun. In my program at Baylor we just finished match in the end of Feb. We had over 130 applicants for 6 spots and more than half of the applicants had board scores of 90 or above. We interviewed at least 2 or 3 number one in the class and more than 7 people with 95 or above on the boards. People are opening their eyes to pedo. more. One IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind is that the REAL pedo. is not what you see as an predoc. in the Pedo. clinic. You need to do an externship or two and follow the Pedo. residents at your school to really see what Pedo. is all about. Also, at our program all of the "good" kids are weeded out and given to the predoc's to work on and we see mostly the difficult kids. In Priv. Pract. you will have a mix. The General Dentists will only send you difficult kids, but you will receive many more easy kids from word of mouth and advertisement. Pedo. is a great field, EXCELLENT,if you are the right person. Interestingly enough my program accepted some high ranked applicants, but also accepted some applicants with very avg board scores and avg gpa/class rank. So don't think that if you are not number one or don't have 90 or above on Boards you can't get in. We have a few "avg" applicants in our program now. Hope this helps

 

[DrJeff]

I couldn't agree moore with the above post. There is a huge demand both in urban and rural areas for pedodontists. In the area where I practice, Northeast Connecticut. We can 1 pedodontist that you would want to refer to in an area of almost 250 square miles. If a pedodontist just out of residency would buy out the local pedodontist in my town who is suffering from early parkinson's like tremors and has had a fall off in patient care ability, the most difficult thing for the new Doc would be keeping up with the demand for referral slips from the 45 to 45 GP's in 3 states that would refer to the office! Hint, hint, plug, plug Please read this JML1DDS and if any residents in your program have any interest in practicing in a rural setting in Connecticut just over an hour from Boston send them this way, please!

 

[Dr. Pedo]

Thanks guys, extremely helpful. I just wish I was nearing the end of my training to take advantage of Dr. Jeff's scenerio.

RRB

 

[deciduous]

I'd just like to re-open this thread. I start school in the fall, but I've worked for a pediatric dentist for a year. I, too, have developed an insatiable appetite for this field. It takes patience, indeed, but it is extremely rewarding. And as far as debt:income ratio, the Dr. here (5days a week, very efficient Doc.) nets over 600k/year. Good luck to all!

 

[Centrum]

This thread really got me thinking. Is anyone here considering going into Pedo? Vixen, Desi, Gavin, Luminous? Just curious. I don't know if I could do it. The truly fun kids would make it all worthhile, but the ones who scream and throw huge fits would begin to wear on a person. I bet the headaches Pedo. dentists get on a daily basis are horrible!