The 'Pooh-isms' of Our Dentistry

So, here is another little known fact about Dr. Rohner. 

I LOVE Children’s Books!  And, I love to read.  Reading is one of my favorite past times and I manage to read at least 1-2 hours per day, late nights and early morning, before and after the kids are asleep!  

I especially love Children’s Books that teach a lesson.  Some of my favorite children’s authors include Chris Van Allsburg, C.S. Lewis, Laura Ingalls Wilder, P.L. Travers,  Lucy Maud Montgomery, and, of course, A.A. Milne.  

Who doesn't love A.A. Milne’s Winnie- the -Pooh!  Such wisdom from that little bear. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, also known as "Pooh-isms": 

·         “You are braver than you believe.  Stronger than you seem.  And smarter than you think.

·         Piglet: “How do you spell ‘love’?”  Pooh:  “You don’t spell it… you feel it.”

·         “The things that make me different are the things that make me”

·         “If the person you are talking to does not appear to be listening, be patient.  It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in this ear.”

·         “If there comes a day when we can’t be together keep me in your heart.  I’ll stay there forever.”

·         “Sometimes the smallest things take the most room in your heart”

·         “Some people care too much, I think it’s called love”

·         “Rivers know this:  there is no hurry.  We shall get there some day.”

·         “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

Much of how we practice here at Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry is described by many of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh quotes listed above.

At our practice….

We believe in taking TIME to spend with every child.  We believe in being very patient with our sweet patients and moving at their pace.  We want to hear about their day at school and their favorite thing about summer (spring, winter, or fall… )… We want to talk to our patients and visit with our patients, and if they are worried about their dentist visit, we want to find out what is worrying them and help them work through their fears.

We believe that every child and every parent is different, and we treat every child as the individual that they are.  We strive to tailor each of our procedures and visits to the individual needs of each child. We believe that every child is Good and Strong and Brave and Smart and we LOVE to remind our patients of that and compliment them every step of the way when they are visiting with us.  

We are honored that our patients and their parents have chosen us and we strive to honor our patients with blessings and praise as they have honored us with their choice.

We believe that it is okay for kids to be kids.  We believe that it is okay for kids to cry if they are sad or worried and laugh and giggle and run about when they are happy and excited.  We believe in playing with our patients while they are here with us… having tea parties, brushing the stuffed animals teeth, letting our patients dress up in our masks and our gloves to ‘be the dentist’. 

We believe that it is VERY IMPORTANT to teach our patients how to tolerate dental visits.  I believe that one of my most important missions in life and in my profession is to teach children to see the importance in maintaining good dental health so that they can have a “Healthy Smile for a Lifetime”… does that sound familiar?  If so, it is because it is part of our logo and I take that mission very seriously.  We want to help ‘raise’ patients who see the value and importance of going to the dentist even when they ‘age out’ of our practice and move on to the adult dentist.  And, unfortunately, sometimes maintaining ‘good dental health’ means getting a ‘filling’ or having another type of dental procedure.  We teach children how to tolerate dental procedures with as little apprehension and anxiety as possible.  We take pride in the fact that we use the ‘tell, show, do’ method when performing procedures on our patients.  In other words, we tell children exactly what they are going to taste, feel, hear or see, we show our patients the dental ‘tools’ that we will use to repair their tooth, before we ‘do’ any part of the procedure. 

And, finally, we believe that it is important to work in a profession that you LOVE and for which you have a passion. All of us here at Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry love what we do! We are excited about coming to work each day and getting to work with our sweet patients and their families. We feel honored to get to participate in our patients lives while they are part of our practice.  In fact, we tell our older teen patients who are ‘age-ing out’ to the adult dentist that the only unhappy part of our job is that our patients grow up and have to leave us. But, we are super honored to serve them for 18 years and look forward to serving our ‘grand-patients’ as they come along. 

So, how about you all?  What Children’s Books do you like?  What is your favorite Winnie-the-Pooh “Poo-ism”? How can you apply these wise sayings to your life?

Feel free to comment or talk to me about this when you stop by… I love to talk about books!

#ARPD #poohisms #childrensbooks #lessonslearned #wisdom #drrohner #pediatricdentist 

**Milne, A.A. and Ernest H. Shepard.  Winnie-the-Pooh.  New York:  Dutton, 1961.  Print.

***Copyright 2014 Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry