Pediatric dentistry and Minimal intervention dentistry

Pedodontics, also referred to as pediatric dentistry, is the dental specialty limited by age, which involves measures of therapeutic prevention for children and teenagers, including patients with special treatment requirements. From an etymological point of view, the word "pedodontics" comes from Greek words "pes" meaning child and "odontos" meaning tooth. Pediatric dentistry encompasses prevention, minimal intervention, endodontics and prosthetics for children and teenagers.

Pedodontics represents a relatively new branch of dentistry which was set-up in Romania in 1948 in five University centers.

A pediatric dentist must have pediatric, embryology, general and oral pathology expertise, and must also have insight into child psychology. The pediatric dentist contributes to the education of children, adults and future parents, teaching them about oral hygiene and dento-periodontal prevention.

It is recommended to consult a pediatric doctor as soon as the eruption of the first teeth happens in order to respect some basic age-specific hygiene and prophylactic measures.

Odonto-therapy, which refers to minimal dentistry interventions, is a branch of dentistry which deals with the management of cavities.

Before each intervention, a therapeutic algorithm must be established for the affected area. In the treatment strategy for cavities, there are methods for prophylaxis and prevention, as well as modern methods for the treatment of irreversible injuries.

In this branch of dentistry, it is very important to put a correct diagnostic using various methods of cavities detection : inspection, palpation, fiber optic transillumination, bite-wing radiography and cavities detection with laser. Depending on the diagnostic, the method of treatment is personalized in order to obtain a functional and esthetic rehabilitation of the affected tooth.