Overview
Pediatric dentistry is a specialized branch of dentistry aimed towards the comprehensive management of children with dental problems. Prevention and education are the key ways of promoting oral health collectively. Our goal is to produce a caries-free generation. We intend to give every child an opportunity to maintain good oral health throughout life through timely counselling and tailored preventive programs. In course of the same, we intend to set a foreground for the early identification of risk factors by evaluation of oro-facial structures, oral hygiene, and dietary habits. The strategy also includes prevention of oral diseases, injuries and extending full-scale treatment of children with special healthcare needs.
The Department was started in the year 2004 for training 100 students per year for the fulfilment of the course in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). The Postgraduate unit was initiated in the year 2008 with an intake of 3 students per year for MDS and it was increased to 6 per year in 2012.
The department spans over an area of 8,750 sft. with separate undergraduate and postgraduate sections. It has a colourful play area that offers an affable and vivacious environment for the benefit of the children. The department also has isolation and conscious sedation sections to facilitate effective treatment for uncooperative and disabled children. This branch encompasses a seminar hall with the latest audiovisual aids and also includes a separate department library with over 100 reference books, and also 24 hrs wifi.
Department has a good outpatient flow which has been improved over the years. Since 2017 postgraduate students are being sent to various paediatric clinics in bhimavaram town for better exposure to the paediatric population. We have initiated a school dental health programme with the concept of “Zero Cavity” in 2005. Every day 25 to 30 school children from various government and private schools in and around bhimavaram are brought to the department and perform preventive and restorative procedures completely free of cost. We are also implementing treatment camps in the schools in and around Bhimavaram.