In this study, we investigated the trends in pediatric patients on their first visit to a general dental clinic. A comparison of patient groups during 5 years both before and after a pediatric dental specialist came to work in our clinic (early and late groups) led to the following conclusions.

1. The total number of pediatric patients on the first visit was 1,845, which represented 27.6% of the total number of patients on the first visit; the monthly average number of pediatric patients on the first visit was 15.1.

2. Patients under the age of six represented 73.0% of all the pediatric patients on their first visit throughout the entire period, with the percentage being higher in the late group.

3. More than 70% of the patients visited from neighboring towns within 2 km from our clinic.

4.The majority of them were motivated to visit us after passing by our clinic or looking at a signboard, followed by after visiting our website or referrals by acquaintances.

5. The most common reason of visit was the desire to receive dental examination (42.8%), followed by caries-related complaints, prevention-related ones, dentition-related ones, recommendation of consultation, and trauma in this order. Caries-related complaints were the most common in the early group, while the desire for dental examination and prevention-related complaints were higher in the late group and more common than caries-related ones.

6. The number of teeth with caries at the first examination was 0 in 55.1% of the patients during the entire period, and the average number of caries per individual was smaller in the late group. The average number of visits for the first treatment per individual was higher in the late group.

7. 82.2% of patients did not discontinue the treatment received at the first consultation, while 17.8% discontinued it. The number of patients without discontinuation was higher in the late group.

8. Approximately one-fourth of the patients visited our clinic regularly after treatments. The number of patients who regularly visited our clinic was higher in the late group.

These results suggest that pediatric dentistry is important even in general dental clinics and that the presence of pediatric dental specialists improves the quality of practice.