Hi! Thanks for checking out our website. If you are looking for a warm, loving, and gentle atmosphere for your child's early dental experiences, you are in the right place. Our primary emphasis is making sure your little person becomes a happy, confident, knowledgeable and healthy dental patient. Our young adult "alumni" leave us with the skills they'll need to keep their teeth healthy for their lifetime. But, just as importantly, they leave with years of positive, caring reinforcement that will insure that going to the dentist will never be traumatic for them.

I am a product of Stanford University and the UCLA School of Dentistry. I completed my pediatric specialty training at Oakland Children's Hospital and am a proud member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the California Society of Pediatric Dentistry. I have a great deal of experience working with children in a variety of different environments - form Switzerland to Saudi Arabia, from Israel to Fort Apache. But, Novato is home.

Please refer to the following Novato Advance article for a little bit more background information.

Our Town: Caring 25 years for Novato’s children

By Marian Schinske
Special to the Advance
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:05 PM PDT

Dr. Brian Putman knew he wanted to be a dentist in kindergarten, where he fashioned little dentures out of clay. Later, he decided to focus on helping kids with their teeth.

“The emphasis on children was big in my family,” he said. “My mom was an elementary school principal and my sister was a junior high school teacher.”

As Novato’s only dentist with specialized training in pediatric dentistry, Dr. Putman has been serving tots and teens here for 25 years. There has always been a need for his services here, because Novato’s children have the highest rate of dental decay in Marin County—due, in part, to the fact that Novato’s water supply is non-fluoridated.

Tooth decay in children here is prevalent and worrisome, particularly the “devastating” variety known as “early childhood decay,” where a child’s teeth become dark and crumble away, he said.

“This type of tooth decay crosses all racial and socio-economic boundaries, and to treat it becomes a real heartache for kids and their families,” he said. Early childhood decay is caused primarily by lengthy, continuous contact with sucrose or lactose—such as fruit juice or milk that is given in a bottle to a youngster during the night, he said. It can also be caused unknowingly by nursing mothers who feed “on demand” during the night, he added.

“It is so much easier to prevent problems like these than to treat them. If we can just do a few little corrections to the families’ oral habits, we can make a huge impact. We talk about brushing, fluoride supplementation, and making good diet choices,” he said. “After all, you have to learn to make healthy choices all of your life, and the earlier you learn to do it, the better.”

Earlier is better, and that’s why Dr. Putman recommends that all parents bring their children to see a dentist by age 3. “By establishing a ‘dental home’ early on, a child is able to start building trust with his dentist and get used to what is a new and profoundly different kind of place,” he said.

Stuffed animals are perched on nearly every counter in Dr. Putman’s office, which also hosts an aquarium. Covering the walls are numerous crayon drawings dedicated to “Dr. P” by devoted patients. Placed neatly beside each dental chair is a row of colorful sunglasses. “They reduce the glare of the overhead light and prevent any dental dust from getting in the kids’ eyes,” he explained.

Needless to say, Dr. Putman empathizes with his patients, and wishes to reduce any hardship they might experience while undergoing treatment. “I want kids and their parents to see this as a safe, kid-friendly place,” he said.

More than a few children enter his office “shaking in their boots” with fear, he said, adding that he feels rewarded to see these same kids walk out with smiles on their faces, ready to return another day.

Continuity with a dentist is important for any child, who should receive dental checkups at least twice a year, he said. “So much changes in a little person’s mouth in a period of months, so it’s good for a dentist to see what’s going on. For example, if we see some trouble spots, we can put some sealant on—and that doesn’t hurt a fly,” he said.

While helping kids in Novato, Dr. Putman has volunteered his services at Marin County Dental Services in San Rafael, where there is a growing population of low-income patients from the Canal area. Beyond Marin, he has delivered pro-bono dental care to hundreds of disadvantaged children.

On the White Mountain Apache Reservation at Fort Apache, Arizona he spent three weeks serving Native American children. Besides his interest in serving these kids, who are amongst the 15,000 surviving members of various Apache tribes, he said that he appreciated the historical importance of Fort Apache. The mountains and rivers in that region are sacred to the Apache nations, and that is where Geronimo made his last stand in 1886.

Dr. Putman said he witnessed a rare moment of peace in Israel, where he helped about 75 low-income children from various cultures and faiths at a dental clinic in Jerusalem, which was established by Holocaust survivor Trudi Berger.

“I think it had the most remarkable waiting room in the world,” he recalled. “Israelis were sitting next to Arabs, who were sitting next to Coptic Christians and Russian immigrants. These people normally wouldn’t sit together, but they shared a love and concern for their children’s health.”

An extensive traveler, Dr. Putman has made photographic portraits of children from around the world, and these hang next to the colored crayon drawings of his young patients here. Novato is home, he said.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to the families of Novato, who have been so sweet to me over the years,” he said. “This is a great community, and I’m so lucky to be part of it.”

Those interested in learning more about Dr. Putman’s dental practice or his charitable work can call his office at 892-6969.

Copyright © 2008 ~ J. Brian Putman, D.D.S. ~ All Rights Reserved.
Pediatric Dentist serving infants, children and teens in Novato, CA and the surrounding areas.
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