The History of Pediatric Dentistry

A Brief History of Pediatric Dentistry 

Dentistry is one of the world’s oldest medical professions, originating as far back as 7000 B.C., but it wasn’t until the 1700s that Dentistry became an established profession. As expected, the need for Pediatric Dentists, originally referred to as Pedodontists, developed even later than that, in the 1920’s. In fact, the American Association of Pedodontics, which would later be known as the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry, was founded in 1947, and in the 1970s, as more and more parents began taking their children to the dentists, as well as with the initiation of several school outreach programs, the occurrence of dental caries in children dropped significantly. This trend continued as persons began to realize to importance of oral health care to the health of the body in general, and the rest was history!

The Evolution of Pediatric Dentistry

Despite being a male-dominated profession in the past and even now, more women are practicing as dentists now more than ever, though there is still progress to be made in this regard. In the area of pediatric dentistry, however, in a study carried out in 2012, 53% of practicing pediatric dentists were men, and the remaining 47%, women. This shows a more balanced distribution than other branches of dentistry. 

There are also significantly more dentists from minority racial groups than there have been in the past. This can be seen in the following chart showing the distribution of racial groups enrolled in pediatric dentistry programs across the United States. 

Considering Pediatric Dentistry as a Specialty?

As of 2012, there were 6,276 pediatric dentists of the 195,941 practicing dentists in the United States which demonstrates somewhat of a lack of specialists in ratio to the number of children in the United States. 

The average salary of a Pediatric Dentist is more than $174,000 a year, but may vary depending on the number of patients seen per day, and the area in which you practice. Estimates can be seen below. 

Despite Pediatric Dentist offices being portrayed as scary places in movies, the spread of knowledge of the importance of good oral hygiene promotes the welfare of children, which is what every parent wants! Pediatric Dentists have become well accustomed to dealing with nervous, crying children, and as such must maintain an animated, but calming, reassuring demeanor to put their little patients at ease.  

Pediatric Dentistry is one of the most dynamic, progressive, and quickly evolving dental specialties out there!