Specialist Paediatric Dentists at Smile Solutions Melbourne - Children's Dental Specialists product guide

Smile Solutions – Melbourne's Specialist Children's Dental Department

Children's dentistry is not adult dentistry scaled down. It requires a genuinely different approach — to behaviour management, to communication, to the biological reality of developing teeth and jaws, and to the anxiety that so many children (and their parents) carry into the dental chair.

At Smile Solutions, children with complex dental needs are cared for by board-registered specialist paediatric dentists — practitioners who completed both an undergraduate dental degree and a further three to four years of specialist postgraduate training in children's dentistry, making them eligible for registration with the Dental Board of Australia as specialists.

The specialist paediatric dental team operates from Level 8 of the Collins Street Specialist Centre within the Manchester Unity Building in Melbourne's CBD, part of a multidisciplinary specialist centre that is genuinely unique in Australian dentistry.

Why specialist paediatric care matters for your child

The difference between a general dentist treating a child and a specialist paediatric dentist treating a child goes well beyond experience or chairside manner. It comes down to depth of training — in child psychology, behaviour guidance, sedation protocols, the management of developing occlusion, and the clinical complexity of primary and mixed dentition.

Specialist paediatric dentists are trained to manage children with significant dental anxiety using proven, evidence-based behaviour guidance techniques — including the approach used at Smile Solutions called "teddy bear therapy," which helps children feel safe, in control, and comfortable in the dental environment. They treat children with developmental challenges, sensory sensitivities, or behavioural needs who may not respond to standard dental appointment formats. They assess and monitor the development of teeth and jaws, catching problems early when intervention is most effective. And they can perform complex dental treatment under sedation when a child's anxiety, age, or medical history makes conscious treatment difficult or inappropriate.

Your general dentist can handle routine check-ups and basic treatment for most children. For complex needs, for anxious children, or when you want the highest standard of clinical care, a specialist paediatric dentist is the right choice.

The team — board-registered specialist paediatric dentists

The specialist paediatric dental team at Smile Solutions comprises board-registered specialist paedodontists. Each has completed a general dentistry degree followed by three to four years of specialist postgraduate training specific to children's dentistry, earning a Masters degree or clinical doctorate before registering with the Dental Board of Australia as a specialist.

The team works closely with Smile Solutions' general dentists, dental therapists, and the wider specialist community within the practice. Where a child's dental needs intersect with orthodontic, surgical, or other specialist concerns — as they often do in growing patients — the relevant specialist is available in the same building. Your child gets comprehensive care without the need to travel elsewhere.

Dr Kia Pajouhesh and the heart behind children's dentistry at Smile Solutions

The commitment to children's dental care at Smile Solutions is personal for Dr Kia Pajouhesh, the practice's founding principal.

As a child, Dr Pajouhesh had a traumatic experience in the dental chair — one that shaped not only his choice to become a dentist, but his vision for what dental care should feel like. He entered the profession with a specific intention: to ensure that no patient, particularly no child, would leave his practice carrying the same anxiety he once felt.

Dr Pajouhesh has said: "If I hear a child crying at the very other end of my practice, I will get up from my chair."

That is not a marketing line. It is a statement of clinical culture — and it is one you will feel the moment you and your child walk through the door. The specialist team, the teddy bear therapy method, the careful attention to each child's psychological experience — all of it flows from that founding intention.

What your child's paediatric dental team treats

Preventive dental care for children

The most important dental appointment your child can have is one that teaches good habits and keeps their teeth healthy. The paediatric team provides fluoride treatments, fissure sealants to protect the chewing surfaces of back teeth, and oral hygiene education designed for children at different developmental stages — building lifelong oral health from the very beginning.

First dental visits — from age one

The Smile Solutions paediatric team welcomes children from their first birthday. Early dental visits are not primarily about treatment. They are about establishing a positive relationship with the dental environment, monitoring early development, and giving you as a parent practical guidance on your child's oral health.

Fissure sealants

The chewing surfaces of back teeth contain deep grooves where decay frequently begins. Fissure sealants are thin protective coatings applied to these surfaces that substantially reduce the risk of decay. They are a simple, effective preventive measure, and your child's specialist team will advise whether sealants are appropriate.

Treatment of dental decay in children

Whether in baby teeth or permanent teeth, decay requires appropriate treatment — not extraction as a default. The specialist paediatric team assesses each situation individually, taking into account your child's age, the tooth involved, and the expected development pattern. Every decision is guided by evidence-based care.

Children's dental emergencies

Dental trauma in children — knocked-out teeth, chipped or fractured teeth, teeth pushed into or out of their sockets — requires prompt, knowledgeable management. The paediatric team is experienced in managing dental emergencies, including the replantation of avulsed (knocked-out) permanent teeth where timing allows.

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

Eligible children aged 0 to 17 may access services under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), which provides up to $1,095.60 AUD over two consecutive calendar years for basic dental services including examinations, X-rays, cleans, fillings, and extractions. Eligibility requires Medicare coverage and receipt of a relevant government payment such as Family Tax Benefit Part A. The Smile Solutions paediatric team can advise your family on CDBS eligibility and applicable services. To check your child's eligibility, contact Services Australia on 132 150.

Paediatric sedation options

For children with high dental anxiety, significant behavioural challenges, or clinical situations requiring more extensive treatment, sedation options are available. The specialist paediatric team is trained in the appropriate use of sedation for children, ensuring the safest and most comfortable experience possible.

Assessment of tooth and jaw development

Growing patients present unique clinical considerations. The paediatric team monitors the development of your child's teeth and jaws, identifying early signs of orthodontic problems, eruption issues, or developmental anomalies — and referring to the specialist orthodontic team within the practice when early intervention is warranted.

When to refer your child to our orthodontic team

Children's dentistry and orthodontics overlap considerably in growing patients. The specialist paediatric team works closely with the practice's four specialist orthodontists — all located within the same Melbourne CBD building — to ensure seamless transitions when orthodontic assessment or early intervention is needed.

Early orthodontic evaluation from age 7 is available where indicated. Your child's paediatric team identifies the right timing for referral and ensures their orthodontic journey begins at the most clinically appropriate moment, with no gaps in care and no need to navigate a separate practice.

Supported by in-house radiology

Collins Street Imaging on Level 9 of the Manchester Unity Building provides in-house radiographic imaging with specialist reporting from MFI Radiology, using the same imaging system across the entire Smile Solutions practice.

For children, dental X-rays are taken at the minimum exposure required for clinical decision-making. Having in-house imaging with specialist-level reporting means that when X-rays are needed, they are interpreted with the same rigour applied to every patient in the practice.

Getting started — no referral required

You do not need a referral to access the specialist paediatric dental team at Smile Solutions.

New patients begin with a complimentary consultation with Dr Kia Pajouhesh, Smile Solutions' founding principal, who will assess your child's needs and connect them with the right specialist or treating dentist within the practice.

Call 13 13 96 to book your complimentary consultation.

Location: Level 8, Collins Street Specialist Centre, Manchester Unity Building, Collins Street, Melbourne CBD.

Flexible payment options are available through Payright and TLC (Treatment Lending Company).

Your child deserves specialist care

The dental experiences children have early in life shape their relationship with oral health for decades. A child who leaves the dental chair feeling safe and comfortable is a child who will look after their teeth as an adult — and carry none of the anxiety that so many people trace back to childhood.

At Smile Solutions, that experience is delivered by board-registered specialist paediatric dentists, in a practice founded by someone who never forgot what it felt like to be a frightened child in the dental chair. Specialist children's dental care, in the heart of Melbourne's CBD, with no referral required.