Pediatric Dentist Builds Office in Port Jervis
The new office is being built on Ball St., to be ready by May.
Just as a baby’s first tooth is nudging its way into view at a year old or before, the time has come for a first visit to a dentist, says pediatric dentist Nicole Lambert, whose new office on Ball St. in Port Jervis will likely open by May. Her husband, John Kientopp is diligently at work building it these days.
Lambert, who grew up in the New York City area, she said, has a dental practice in Manhattan, Lambert & Co. Tribeca Dentist, but the couple has had a weekend house in the area for several years to indulge their yen for outdoor doings like hiking, rafting and fishing.
“When friends and neighbors find out I’m a dentist, I get lots of questions and pictures of teeth from them. Many kids have undiagnosed problems—decay or infection in teeth, bone or gums,” said Lambert. “That may come from genetics, what they eat, or their environment. The average age kids first go to the dentist is five or six. That’s too late. They should go by the time they’re one.”
She cited a National Institutes of Health finding that 17% of children’s absences from school stem from dental issues.
“Dental problems start between the ages of one and five,” she said. “Pediatric dentists are more attuned to children’s teeth. The new office, Lambert will be an open space, without drills or needles.”
They chose the Ball St. property because, she said, “It was the only property on the market with a parking lot.”
Pediatric dentistry requires a two to three year residency after dental school, training that facilitates diagnosing problems without x-rays, Lambert said, noting that children tend to be more vulnerable to even the small doses of radiation used in dentistry. She attended Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and received her dentistry degree in 2000.
Asked why she chose dentistry, she said that, compared to veterinarians and doctors, “Dentists have the ability to find the problem and a definitive solution in one visit. That precision gives instant impact.”
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