Some Maine doctors are treating kids’ dental decay

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Some doctors in Maine are adapting to treat early tooth decay themselves as the state battles with a shortage of dentists. More local pediatricians have begun using a topical solution made of silver and fluoride to treat their patients’ cavities. Dr. Brian Youth, a pediatrician at MaineHealth and president of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, was one of the first in the state to incorporate such treatment into his primary care practice. “Pediatricians have so much on their plate that they need to cover with families at different visits, and some might see this as an additional task that pediatricians are taking on because patients can’t get the dental care that they need,” Youth said. “But I would say this is an important one because of the morbidity associated with dental [decay] in our patients.”