Community Highlights: Meet Dr. Noam Greenbaum of Pediatric Dental Club

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Noam Greenbaum.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After graduating college (Yeshiva University in NY, NY), I attended the University of Michigan school of dentistry. I then did a 2 year pediatric dental residency at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. I thought I’d stay in Detroit long term, as I grew up there and knew the community well. My wife, being from Tarzana, eventually wanted to move back to LA (can’t blame her!) so we could be closer to our family here. I started working in Ventura county at a pediatric dental practice but always had the dream of starting my own practice. I knew I wanted to build a startup practice from scratch so it could be 100% authentic me. I wanted to build it close to home too, so that I can treat my own community’s kids. I love being able to see the kids in my practice out and about either at the park or at my daughter’s school for example. It just makes me feel like I’m making a difference in my own community which I really love. When I am not at work, I love staying active by running long distances, hanging with my wife and daughters, and going to the beach. Any opportunity to be on the beach, I am there!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Building a small business in Los Angeles is no tiny feat. I’ve learned so much along the way from the construction side of things to the many hats one has to wear while owning a business to the IT/tech involved in a dental practice. I’ll forever be a student at heart so I am always willing and excited to learn new things, but I wouldn’t say the road to building our practice from zero patients on day one to hundreds of patients now a year in has been easy. It has been fun though! One major hurdle I hear about a lot from colleages is building a team. In the dental community a lot of owner dentists have been struggling finding solid team members to help build their practice. I have NOT had this issue. I have such an amazing team here and having that trust in my team has been a huge relief for me.

We’ve been impressed with Pediatric Dental Club, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I specialize in pediatric dentistry, infant and toddler to adolescent oral health, and laser frenectomy (tongue/lip tie) procedures. Helping establish a healthy mouth and building a proper oral hygiene routine for families is truly rewarding. It can be a daunting task for parents, and I’m proud to say we set our families up for success when we see them early on. My favorite age to see a child for the first time is between 6-12 months. This may surprise some – many of these kids don’t even have more than 2 teeth at that age (if that!) But establishing this early visit helps parents know what to do and what not to do in order to set the child up for success. The cavity rate in children I see this young is significantly less than that of children I see for the first time at age 3 or 4, for example.

I am known for my gentle and calm approach, making children feel at ease for what can sometimes be a scary and intimidating experience.

What sets me a part is just that I care. There are many other excellent pediatric dentists locally and in the surrounding Los Angeles communities. Families in LA have some fantastic providers to choose from. I think my unique approach especially for the very young patient creates an environment of calm that parents really gravitate toward. I also have a separate room in my practice dedicated to 0-3 year old children. This is unique in the dental space. In other offices parents hold their children on themselves in a regular dental chair and it’s just awkward. In our practice we have a room set up to make this age easier on the parent. I also sing to my patients 😂, sometimes the little ones start off crying because they are scared of the new experience, which makes sense. I start to sing my few tooth songs and they stop. – I’m not sure if they like my singing or they are just flabbergasted at the fact that I am singing to them, but hey it works!

I’m super proud of our branding. I wanted to showcase all my favorite California vibes – Palm trees, waves, sun, and of course cool smiles. I wanted the brand to show confidence (our shield/crest) and inclusivity (the club). I went with blues (calming, peaceful, relaxing) and yellows (happy, optimistic, energetic) for our colors, which also happen to be the colors of my alma mater – the University of Michigan, for our brand. These colors give off the exact aura of our practice. We created a calming space where our patients are happy and definitely energetic!

Something unique to our practice is our Lightscalpel laser. This laser allows us to provide tongue and lip tie releases (frenectomies) in a noninvasive and precise manner. Traditionally these procedures have been done with scissors, but using our laser allows for less/no bleeding, much less pain, faster healing and reduction in infection, and much better precision. I am passionate about helping infants and children alike with these procedures, as evidence is strong in the benefits to growth and development, improvements in sleep (supremely important in children), and countless other benefits. I am trained to do these via my pediatric residency background, but also did additional training after in order to ensure proper evaluation and diagnosis. This is really important to me – I wanted to make sure early on in my career that if I am providing this service, I am not overdoing it and only releasing those tongue and lip ties that truly need it and are causing issues, or what we call restrictions, to overall health.

Another area we excel at in our practice is treating the neurodivergent and special needs child. Children with special healthcare needs require a bit more time and attention in the dental office. My background working in a children’s hospital as well as being mentored by leading pediatric dentists in the field of special care dentistry led me to my approach with these children. I am not just there to check and treat their teeth, but to set them up for lifelong comfort and confidence in the dental setting. That starts with us, and this is a huge responsibility I do not take lightly.

Readers should know that when you join pediatric dental club as a patient , you have full open line of communication to me. No question too small, I am always here to help. We answer texts and phone calls 24/7. When was the last time you wanted to ask your doctor a question and could simply text him/her? I wanted to make this possible for our parents, because as a parent myself I know how stressful it can be when you have medical questions about your child.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something interesting about me that people may not know is that I am not actually from Los Angeles. I was born and raised in a suburb of Detroit, MI. The big city that is LA was quite intimidating when I first moved here, and navigating where to establish my practice was quite a challenge. The San Fernando Valley was extremely welcoming to me when I first got here, and I am so glad my family and practice were able to establish roots so quickly.

Other than being a pediatric dentist and practice owner, some fun facts about me would be I run marathons, I love coffee, I am a bit of an amateur mixologist, and I’m a dog lover. When I moved to LA I also grew quite fond of pickleball, although I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like! I also like to sing – I am always singing to my patients, and when I get home I sing with my daughters. On the weekends I also love being involved at my synagogue whether by helping organize community events or leading the services for the community.

Pricing:

• We accept insurance, but for patient’s that don’t have insurance, we offer a membership plan – $375/year includes all necessary preventive services (cleanings, exams, xrays) for kids. Any additional treatment needs are 15% off for our members.

Contact Info:

• Website: pediatricdentalclub.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pediatricdentalclub/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pediatricdentalclub
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pediatric-dental-club-encino
• Other: https://g.co/kgs/SNEVHsc

Image Credits
Moloshok Photography