Positive Parenting, Prevention, and Pediatric Dentistry: Why Coping Skills Fall Short and How to Help
Speaker:
Dr. Martha Wells
May 9, 2026
Date:
Time:
1:30 PM-4:30 PM
3
CE Credits:
Positive Parenting, Prevention, and Pediatric Dentistry: Why Coping Skills Fall Short and How to Help
Dr. Martha Wells
About the Course
From modern parenting to caries control, this lecture connects the dots between how kids cope with stress and how dentists can minimize the need for stressful interventions. Learn how contemporary parenting impacts resilience—and how to apply evidence-based prevention and minimally invasive techniques to support both families and oral health.
Educational Objectives:
Compare contemporary parenting approaches with those of previous generations and discuss their impact on child behavior.
Identify changes in the structure of the traditional American family and their implications for pediatric dental care.
Describe behavior guidance strategies that support the development of coping skills in children.
Integrate remineralization and restorative approaches to reduce caries risk and treatment burden.
Recognize emerging and diverse strategies for managing dental caries in pediatric patients.
Apply the principles of minimally invasive dentistry to tailor caries management for individual patient needs.
Your Instructor
Dr. Martha Wells
Dr. Martha Wells is Chief of Dentistry for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She is a full member faculty in the Department of Surgery and is the first dentist to ever be on faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Prior to joining St. Jude, she was faculty at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry where she served as Director of the Pediatric Dentistry Residency. She served as research advisor for multiple residents which resulted in numerous publications in journals such as Pediatric Dentistry, the Journal of the American Dental Association, the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, Dental Traumatology, and the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry. She has authored six textbook chapters and served as one of the editors for the sixth edition of the textbook Pediatric Dentistry: Infancy through Adolescence. She has served on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Dentistry for Children and currently serves on the Board for Pediatric Dentistry and is a peer reviewer for several journals. She has served on the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry’s Qualifying Examination Committee, is Chair of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s Annual Session Scientific Programming Committee, and served on the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s Behavior Guidance Workgroup. In recognition of her teaching and service, she was named as the first UTHSC Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry as the recipient of the Heber Simmons Jr. Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Dentistry and received multiple faculty awards from the College of Dentistry. She was recognized as a 2024 Living Our Values Honoree at St. Jude, has been inducted into the American College of Dentists, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and was named one of Augusta University’s Top 20 Emerging Alumni Leaders.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
None reported
The TDA is an ADA CERP provider (May 2024 – June 2028)
ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Concerns or complaints about a CE provider may be directed to the provider or to ADA CERP at ada.org/cerp.