Parents, children have a reason to smile
Dr. Drew Mallard, who opened Knox Tot Pediatric Dentistry Sunday, March 10, at 11201 W. Point Drive, Suite 100, in West End Center, celebrated with a Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce-sponsored ribbon cutting Wednesday afternoon, May 20, at the dentist’s office.
So far, “it’s been learning all the processes of a new dental office and being part of this community,” the dentist said.
“We see ages birth to about 16 or 17,” he said. “Being a pediatric dentist, we are equipped also to take care of friends who may have special needs as well.
“We do some specialized training to be able to not only comfort them but also to be familiar with the things they are going through and enable them to get their dental appointments,” Mallard said. “Being a pediatric dentist, we’re specialized to take care of kiddos.”
In addition to two to three years of additional specialized training, he learned being a pediatric dentist requires a lot of patience and a lot of “tell, show, do.”
“You tell them, ‘Hey, we’re going to brush your teeth;’ show them on their fingernail what it will feel like; then you do it,” Mallard explained. “It makes kids feel a little more comfortable.”
The advantage of going to a pediatric dentist is along with the extensive training, “we have things available to us that other general dentists do not,” he said. “Most pediatric dentists have hospital privileges.”
So, for young patients who cannot withstand traditional treatment in the office, he can do a light sedation.
The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
To book an appointment, they can call 865-309-4020 or book online in the next few weeks.
Mallard, who is from a small town in West Tennessee, and his wife, who is from Knoxville, met while attending the Health Science Center at University of Tennessee, Memphis. He attended Baylor College of Dentistry in Texas and did his pediatric residency there for two years.
“It’s been a long road [to open the office],” he said.
“We initially started looking [for a location to open
the office] in 2020,” Mallard recalled. “We were close to fi
nding a place, then COVID
hit, so we decided we
needed to scale back and reevaluate.
“We put our project on hold for awhile,” he said. But now, they decided it was time for him to start up his own office.
“This space was available,” Mallard said. “And, having all the schools around, we thought this would be a great place to love on our families and our kiddos.”
He chose pediatric dentistry because, “to be honest, adults are a little boring. Who
doesn’t want to come to work and talk about ‘Frozen,’ ‘Lightning McQueen,’
‘Cars’ and all the new Disney movies.”
Also, Mallard had a great pediatric dentist while growing up and later had a chance to shadow him for five years.
“I knew at an early age I wanted to be a pediatric dentist based on his influence and how he took care of his patients,” he said about the role model.
