200 Elm St
Pittsfield MA. 01201
(413) 499-4850
or
100 Maple Avenue
Great Barrington, Ma. 01230
(413) 528-4490
www.yarmoskypediatricdentistry.com
Dr. Lauren is a Board Certified Pediatric Dentist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. She earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2000 from the University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. After graduating from Dental School, she moved to Germany to join her husband, Dr. Matt Ballinger, who was stationed there as a Dental Officer in the United States Army Dental Corp. While Dr. Matt finished his General Practice Residency and tour, she worked as a General Dentist in Darmstadt Germany.
In 2004, Dr. Lauren returned to Maryland to begin her 2-year Pediatric Dental Residency at the University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, earning her Specialty Training in Pediatric Dentistry in 2006. After working in Private Practice in Maryland for a few years, she decided to move back “home” with her husband and children and joined the “family” at Yarmosky Pediatric Dentistry in 2009.
She has extensive experience in treating infants, children and adolescents and those with special needs with an emphasis on the prevention of dental disease, restorative care utilizing child-centered behavior guidance and anxiolytic techniques, and dental outpatient surgery under general anesthesia. However, her main focus of interest is Airway Focused Pre-Orthodontic and Orthodontic care in the growing child; combining her knowledge of craniofacial growth and development and training in functional and myofunctional orthodontic techniques.
Dr. Lauren believes that it is imperative to understand, address and treat the underlaying issues in the developing child that cause malocclusions in the first place and to put the focus on the child that is attached to the teeth, not just focus solely on the teeth. This passion comes from not only her own professional development and training as a Pediatric Dentist, but from her experience as a mother looking for better solutions to her own children’s health and dental issues and finding hope and health through an “airway health” centered approach.
When it comes to her own children, she often says “I wish I had known then what I know now”, but now uses that knowledge as an opportunity to share her own personal and professional experiences to the benefit of other families. She is a staff member of Berkshire Health Systems where she lectures in the Advanced General Dentistry Residency program as well as a provider of dental surgical services at the Crane Center at BMC.
Dr. Lauren is active in the professional medical, dental, and educational communities in promoting the “Dental Home” Concept and advocating that all children have proper access to dental care and see a dentist by age 1. She is also working to bring knowledge to the local dental and medical community about the need to work together to screen children for Sleep Disordered Breathing and Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea as well as recognize the risk factors such as mouth-breathing, soft tissue dysfunction, tongue or lip “ties”, as well as narrow palates.
Dr. Lauren is a Myobrace Provider (www.myobrace.com) and is a Myofunctional Research Company member (www.myoresearch.com). She is an active member of The American Dental Association(www.ADA.org), the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (www.AAPD.org), the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry: College of Diplomates (www.ABPD.org), the Massachusetts Dental Society and the Berkshire County Dental Society. She is also a member of the American Orthodontic Society (www.orthodontics.com ) and the Academy of Laser Dentistry (www.laserdentistry.org) and has earned the ALD Standard Proficiency Certification in CO2 laser use. She is also proud to be a member of the American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry (www.aapmd.org) and member of the Foundation for Airway Health (www.airwayhealth.org) where all Health Care members make the pledge to:
• Raise awareness and educate the public about the airway
• Define the problems and issues related to poor airway health
• Encourage people to seek examinations and a comprehensive diagnosis
• Aid the public in identifying how to access proper diagnosis and care
She lives with her fantastic husband, Dr. Matt Ballinger, awesome kids Jack and Libby and the sweetest dog ever, Kipper in Richmond, MA.