Dr. Jay Crews, an Owensboro pediatric dentist, began 2019 as the newly-elected president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) Southeastern Society. Crews, the owner of Pediatric Dentistry of Owensboro, has been practicing pediatric dentistry in Owensboro for almost 16 years. He also recently built and moved his practice into a new, larger office.
For the past nine years, Crews has served as the secretary-treasurer of the Kentucky state organization of the AAPD. As a matter of fact, Crews says that he is pretty sure he is “elected for life” as the previous secretary-treasurer served for several decades. In addition to his duties as secretary-treasurer, Crews has also fulfilled the role of Kentucky State Representative on the Southeastern Society executive board, a role that brought his dedication to the attention of a nominating committee for the president’s position.
Once the nominating committee presented Crews to the executive board, they then announced him as their nominee at the next Southeastern Society business meeting where members voted him in as president. He will serve this term for one year, during which time he will preside over the district’s annual meeting, oversee continuing education events, and assist with any issues that come before him.
As president of the AAPD-Southeastern Society, Crews represents nearly 1,600 pediatric dentists from all states east of the Mississippi River, as far north as Virginia and all the way down the east coast to Florida, as well as Puerto Rico.
In May 2018, Crews was able to move his practice from The Springs into a brand-new office constructed by CR Contracting. The office, located at the corner of Burlew Boulevard and New Hartford Road, allowed the practice to grow from 2,500 square feet to over 6,000 square feet. Four additional chairs were also added allowing the practice to see more patients and potentially bring in up to two more dentists in the coming years.
“There is a definite need for another dentist,” Crews said.
Empty rooms allow the practice to expand even further by adding more procedure rooms in the future. A bright and spacious waiting room welcomes patients and their parents with curved seats built under three-dimensional “trees,” and a life-size Nintendo system built into the wall that houses several video gaming systems to keep patients busy while they wait. Child-appropriate movies are shown on several televisions around the waiting room.
As compared to general dentists, pediatric dentists spend an additional two years in a residency, where, according to Crews, they are trained in sedation, hospital dentistry, anesthesia, psychology and behavior management. This allows them to specialize in treating patients from infancy to college age.
