Though Jody Chiang just started as a dentist at Dientes in July, her journey with the organization began years before when she sat in the same chair as a child—often.
Growing up, Chiang dealt with her fair share of dental problems including cavities and tooth extraction, which were treated at the Capitola clinic where she now works. But instead of scaring her away, Chiang grew more curious about dentistry.
“When I started dental school and learned about the whole world of pediatrics—preventative dental care, working with children, that sounds like my type of thing,” Chiang said.
Dientes, a nonprofit community health clinic providing care to low-income communities, also recently welcomed Danny Do to its lineup of pediatric dentists.
Do and Chiang knew each other from dental conferences, and he credits Chiang with helping him find the Dientes position. Originally from Southern California, Do has always lived near the water and is happy in his new community.
“Pediatric dentistry is probably the most rewarding specialty to me,” Do said. “I’ve seen so many scared kids transform into scared adults at the dental chair, so if I can make an impact early on and really set good habits … then it’s the most rewarding thing for me.”
Pediatric dentistry is a dental specialty that provides primary and preventative care for patients aged 0-18. These dentists complete an extra two years of residency to specialize in pediatric practice, turning an 8-year education into 10.
Though all dentists can work on children, pediatric dentists are trained in behavior management and family dynamics that make them better equipped to work with children, who require a different approach than adults.
Sepi Taghvaei, executive vice president of operations and chief dental officer, said there have already been situations where Do and Chiang have been able to treat children where general dentists had been unsuccessful.
“As a pediatric dentist, you sometimes have to think outside the box,” Do said. “Not every treatment is suitable for each kid. Sometimes the visit is just to build rapport and gain a child’s trust.”
Pediatric dentists are also well educated in orthodontics and understanding the growth and development of a child’s mouth, which helps them know what preventative care can be done to provide the child with the best outcomes as they grow older.
Preventative care and education is an important part of the Dientes mission, which aims to bring lasting oral health to the people of Santa Cruz County.
According to Taghvaei, children from low-income families have three times the risk of cavities than children from middle or high-income families. On top of that, Santa Cruz County does not put fluoride in the water, meaning children raised in the county are more likely to get dental decay.
“It’s really, really important to have pediatric dentists here who can really focus on prevention because with dental decay, prevention is a lot easier and more important than treatment,” Taghvaei said. “Our pediatric dentists are here to provide education to the parent, to provide prevention, to establish trust … and to really bring that excellent care to our community.”
Dientes is the only community clinic in the county that takes Medi-Cal Dental and has pediatric dentists available.
Before the arrival of Chiang and Do, some kids with severe situations that couldn’t be treated in-house had to drive as far as the East Bay for sedation covered by Medi-Cal.
“With me and Dr. Jody being here, we kind of meet that need,” Do said. “A lot of the parents unfortunately are unable … to take a full day off to have their child fully sedated for the dental treatment. So if we can meet that need and do the work here, then it helps out a lot.”
Pediatric dentists use sedation more often than general practitioners, as some children are unable to be operated on otherwise. Chiang said both of their residencies included repeated experience with sedation, which gave them extensive operating room experience.
“You don’t have to be a pediatric dentist [to work on children], but we at Dientes believe that pediatric dentists are so special because they have that specialized training and education and behavior management skills and expertise,” Taghvaei said. “We really believe in giving our patients the best possible care, so that’s why we invest in hiring pediatric dentists.”
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Syd Fluker is a California Local News Fellow. Visit fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.
