Podcast with a Pediatric Dentist

An Interview with Dr. Kadeem Bartley

Dr. Kadeem Bartley was born in Jamaica, and moved to the United States of America with his family,  at the age of 16. He attended South Carolina State University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology and graduated top of his class. He then attended University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, and upon graduating, did a general practice residency at Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center in New York. He then completed two additional years at the Eastman Institute of Oral Health in pediatric dentistry, and now works at Innovative Pediatric Dentistry in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Bartley is also a lover of community service, sports, music, and children. 

In this interview, we will speak briefly with Dr. Bartley about his experience as a Pediatric Dentist, and his journey towards becoming one. 

Transcript of Interview with Dr. Kadeem Bartley

Speaker 1: Hi, Doctor Bartley, how are you?

Doctor Bartley: Hi. I'm doing fine, thank you. Yourself?

Speaker 1: Great, I'm doing great. Thank you so much. I just want to ask you like to tell me a little bit about yourself, tell me about your background, where you grew up, where you went to school?

Doctor Bartley: Oh, of course. So I grew up spending my early years in Jamaica. I lived on the island of Jamaica until I was 16 years old. Then my family migrated here to the United States. Um, I lived in South Carolina for five years, did college there before starting dental school at the University of Connecticut. After Connecticut I moved on to New York state, and spent three years there. One year at Bronx Lebanon doing a general practice residency, and then two years in a pediatric dentistry residency. Now I'm practicing in Chicago, Illinois

Speaker 1: Okay, great. So what made you decide to choose pediatric dentistry over all the other specialties I'm sure you could have done?

Doctor Bartley: Well, for me, Peds was really where I felt comfortable once I started my clinical years and starting seeing patients. Pediatric dentistry and pediatric dentistry rotation where was I felt the happiest and where I felt like I was really doing the best dentistry. Um, from my background growing up in Jamaica I didn't have a lot of access to the dentist, and I thought doing Peds would allow me to increase the access of patients, whether I practiced here in America, or if I decided to go back home to Jamaica. I also think pediatric dentistry is important as you look toward the broader, public health dentistry, and in helping to decrease the rate or the prevalence of cavities throughout the population. So pediatric dentistry was a really good match for me in that regard.

Speaker 1: Right. I agree. Okay. Great. Great answer. So did you know that you wanted to go into pediatric dentistry when you were starting dental school, or was it something you decided afterwards?

Doctor Bartley: Well, yeah. Actually for me it was after I went into dental school that I knew I wanted to do pediatric dentistry. Going into dental school I was kind of excited to be in, and, you know, wasn't quite sure about the offerings that were there, but once I started to figure out more, and started to see patients and do rotation, I've never looked back since.

Speaker 1: Okay. I'm sure that's the case for, for a lot of probably the people you did residency with as well. Um, do you remember-

Doctor Bartley: Oh, yeah, very similar.

Speaker 1: If any of your classmates, were any of your classmates in dental school at UConn, were they, dead set on one specialty or did they end up doing something else that they didn't intend to do? What's the, what's the usual case?

Doctor Bartley: I would say it was a mixed bag. It, it varied a lot, you know, between experiences. Some people came into dental school with, with a lot of experience, either having worked as assistants or hygienists, some people's parents owned practices in varying specialties. So it, it was really a mixed bag, you know. A lot of people were very [inaudible 00:04:00], they were able to find out what they wanted to specialize in. Other people came in and, you know, for different reasons, were dead set on their specialty. But I think the important thing was everyone had at least a chance in dental school to evaluate and spend time in the different specialties as well as [inaudible] the different specialties.

Speaker 1: Okay. So what's one thing you like the most about pediatric dentistry?

Doctor Bartley: Well what I like the most about pediatric dentistry is definitely the relationships. The relationships that I'm able to build with my patients and see new patients come in scared for the first appointment and, you know, coming in for the second and third appointment and the parents tell me they were excited to come here today. Watching my patients grow, not only in their confidence but just watching them grow into, you know, from little people into teenagers. Thats, that's really the most exciting thing, and I enjoy those relationships.

Speaker 1: Okay. Great, and what's one thing you like the least? What's the one thing you don't enjoy about your job?

Doctor Bartley: The biggest thing, you know, the reason why I went into pediatric dentistry so that we could get those patients early. And the thing that I enjoy the least is when we see a four or five year old, you know, sometimes even a two year old comes in with 16 teeth with cavities, 20 teeth with cavities. To see a child that young come in, and you know, to see like they have missed the opportunity for you to really make a difference. It's still, it's still heartbreaking because you kind of hoped, you're on the early end of the spectrum where you can get everyone and try to prevent disease. That's what I dislike the most, you know, seeing young kids come in with too many cavities, knowing that they could've been prevented.

Speaker 1: Right, right. Completely understandable. Okay. So here's a good question. What is one trick that gets any scared kid to calm down? I'm sure you deal with a lot of scared kids on a daily basis.

Doctor Bartley: Yes (laughs). One trick that gets them to calm down is just confidence. You know? Just after doing certain things a certain time, most kids are scared because they're not exactly sure what's happening, so, just for me holding their hand and just being confident and guiding them through, I think for a lot of kids, that's what they're looking forward to. Just having somebody there to help them out because, believe it or not, a lot of parents themselves are scared of dentistry. So when parents bring back kids and the parents are anxious or parents are nervous about the appointment, kids are very perceptive and they're able to pick up on that. So I think having confidence and knowing exactly what's gonna happen and being able to talk to a child, and just guide them through, step by step, so they can know that, you know, you've done it before and that you'll be taking good care of them. That really, that really goes a long way.

Speaker 1: Okay. That's a good one. Um, so the last question is, can you describe a typical work day? So basically, how many patients do you see on a day to day basis? What kind of procedures do you do on them, et cetera?

Doctor Bartley: Yeah. So, a typical work day for me is, you know, I get in the office at about 8:40. I'll spend the morning with my assistants. In the morning they'll tell me all the patients that I'll be seeing for the day, and they'll identify any patients that might need a little extra TLC or a little extra time, kind of work out the kinks so we can have a smooth day. We see our first patient at 9 o'clock. Our days tend to be divided into two. During the morning we try to see our most difficult patients, and I will probably see about maybe 20 patients in the morning and about 25 patients in the afternoon. So in total we'll see 45 patients, and 35, about 35 of those patients will be just for recalls or dental cleaning, and the other 10 patients would be for restoration or sometimes extractions or a lot of times with extractions are, they're getting braces. The orthodontist thinks they need some teeth out, then we'll help them. But for the most part we are doing just fillings or stainless steel crowns. And yeah, that's, you know, that's a typical workday. An hour lunch break. Most days I work eight hours.

Speaker 1: Okay, so I actually have one more question.

Doctor Bartley: Go for it!

Speaker 1: What piece of advice would you give to someone who is trying, or plans to become a pediatric dentist?

Doctor Bartley: One piece of advice that I would give is just make sure you get a lot of exposure to it, you know. Pediatric dentistry is like general dentistry but with a lot of screaming and kicking.

Speaker 1: (Laughs).

Doctor Bartley: It's a lot of waiting on the patient to be ready and give you a try, with a lot more explanation. It's definitely rewarding, you know. You're kind of like a snake charmer getting a difficult patient, or a scared patient to get through with a procedure. It's always, it's definitely rewarding, [inaudible] in the moment. But I would say just get lots of exposure to it, spend as much time as you can shadowing, and if you're able to spend time actually practicing pediatric dentistry, then that's even better. So that, that's all I would really give. Just get lots of exposure is the main asset and you know, really get into it, and if it's your passion, then just go for it.

Speaker 1: Right. Okay, great! So thank you Doctor Bartley. This was very helpful and very informative, and all the best to you.

Doctor Bartley: No problem. Thank you and you too. Have a good night.

Speaker 1: Thank you, you too. Take care.

Doctor Bartley: Bye.

Speaker 1: Bye.