A Dental Home for Children OneWorld is expanding pediatric dental services to improve oral health for children in Omaha area For Brian Penly, DDS, Dental Director, and the rest of the OneWorld dental team, the future of oral health starts now. Dr. Penly said the need for pediatric dental services has always been greater than resources can accommodate. With the need continuing to grow, the OneWorld dental team is stepping up to offer a higher level of care by providing more services for children at OneWorld with a new clinic specifically designed for children and teens. “We want to increase oral health education and involvement amongst young children now so we can see a reduction of severe dental needs moving forward,” said Dr. Penly. “By getting pre-kindergarten or grade-school-aged kids healthy and teaching them how to stay healthy, we hope to see improved oral health with the next generation of adults.” Tooth decay is currently one of the leading chronic diseases in children. Around 60% of children experience tooth decay in their primary teeth by the age of five, and 78% by the age of 17 per the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Of those children, 42% of tooth decay instances within the 2-5 year old age group occur in low-income families. “Adding Dr. Spencer Burton, Pedodontist and Associate Director for Pediatric Dental Services, moves the needle in the right direction,” said Dr. Penly. “Dr. Burton is able to provide valuable pediatric expertise and support to our talented general dentists in clinic and those on our dental mobile clinics.” OneWorld’s partnership with Children’s Hospital also allows Dr. Burton to perform oral surgery under general anesthesia at Children’s Outpatient Surgical Center at Village Point. He is currently treating two children per week, with the goal of eight children per week as operating room availability increases. “Hospital-based dental care is an integral part of pediatric dentistry,” said Dr. Burton. “It allows us to treat children who have extensive treatment needs, special health care needs or behavioral needs that prevent the safe delivery of dental care in a traditional clinic setting.” In addition to expanding services, OneWorld will open a new pediatric dental clinic at 84th and Q streets in early 2023. The clinic will offer a child-friendly environment for pediatric patients to establish a dental home. “Deepening our commitment to pediatrics is really about increasing treatment plan completion,” said Dr. Penly. “When we transition children to other providers, we run the risk of that child not making it to that dentist. By expanding our scope of services to include hospital care, we reduce that risk. Since we have trusting relationships with families and can now schedule the care required, care will be completed. We will continue to work closely with our existing partners, including Children’s Hospital, to make sure that all patients have access to care.”
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