John E. Nathan, DDS, MDS, knows the anxiety and outright fear a dental visit can trigger in adults. And he knows this situation can be intensified among children of any age by virtue of a child’s disposition and temperament or previous unpleasant experience.
In response, at his Oak Brook and St. Charles pediatric dental office locations, he and associate Dr. Gail Czarnecki utilize a child-oriented and friendly approach that allows and encourages parents to remain at their child’s side during exams and treatment, while incorporating other measures to make visits pleasant, calming, and painless. Unlike pediatric dentists who arbitrarily exclude parents or discourage their presence, Dr. Nathan believes the presence of a familiar face in new surroundings provides reassurance and support for the child, and helps build a solid rapport between parents, children, and the dental team. Including parents facilitates discussion and dialogue regarding selection of the most appropriate manner and modality of treatment options.
The care Drs. Nathan and Czarnecki provide to infants, young children, adolescents, the medically compromised, and the neurologically challenged is the most advanced available anywhere. A nationally recognized expert in pediatric sedation as well as conventional and non-pharmacological communication strategies to reduce or circumvent childhood dental-related anxiety, Dr. Nathan is a Diplomate (Board Certified) of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and a Fellow and Master of the American Society of Dentistry for Children. He has published more than 50 scientific articles on child behavior management, served on the editorial boards of several pediatric journals, and been active house staff at Children’s Memorial (now Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital) for over 25 years, while affiliated with Hinsdale and Cadence Health-Delnor hospitals. He has served as Pediatric Dentistry consultant to both the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Dental Association Council on Dental Accreditation.
A 1975 graduate of Northwestern University Dental School, Dr. Nathan completed a one-year general practice residency in Chicago before completing the three year Pediatric Dentistry Residency and master’s degree program at the University of Connecticut in 1979. He returned to Chicago to teach full time at the University of Illinois Medical Center as Postgraduate Program Director, while serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center until 1986, when he opened his practice in Oak Brook.
He continues his academic interests serving as Adjunct Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Case Western Reserve University, and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. Closer to home, he has served as the Clinical Associate Professor in Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Dental Surgery since 1999. He is frequently asked to lecture to pediatric medical and dental residents, pediatricians, nursing personnel, and pediatric dentists across the nation.
Dr. Nathan’s calm and reassuring manner, sense of humor, and upfront honesty complement his outstanding credentials and professional experience. His expertise often results in other pediatric dentists and pediatricians referring their most challenging cases to Dr. Nathan and his team of professionals. Dr. Nathan and his staff endeavor to see the world from a child’s perspective as the first step in fostering a lifelong commitment to good oral health by treating each child the way each of us would like to be treated.
John E. Nathan, DDS, MDS and Associates, Ltd is located at 815 Commerce Drive, Suite 220 in Oak Brook, 630-574-7336, and at 2320 Dean Street, Suite 202 in St. Charles, 630-584-3624, johnenathandds.com.
