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

Mouth Guards, The Next Cool Thing?

Should my child wear a mouth guard for sports?  ABSOLUTELY! 

Our recommendation, and the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), is that ALL athletes should always wear a mouth guard during any organized sport practice or game which carries the risk of face or mouth injury.  

So… basically if your child plays organized sports, then they need a mouth guard!  And, if your child plays baseball or softball, then an ASTM-certified face protector should be required anyway. According to the AAPD, The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) classifies mouth guards in three categories:  Custom fit, Mouth Formed (boil and bite) and Stock Mouth guards. 

A  Custom Fit Mouth Guard is definitely our number one recommendation for all athletes playing organized sports.  You can get a custom fit mouth guard from your pediatric dentist, your family dentist or your child’s orthodontist.  However, I know that cost is often a barrier to custom mouth guard use. 

My favorite Mouth Formed (boil and bite) mouth guard is the “ShockDoctor” line of mouth guards. Each of my soccer loving children have one of these! These mouth guards are easy to make and comfortable to wear.  If your child is not wearing braces, then choose the Gel-Max or the Gel-Nano mouth guard.  You can choose a strapped or strapless mouth guard and choose the mouth guard according to your child’s age and sport. The mouth guards come with easy to understand instructions on how to make the mouth guard fit your child’s mouth securely. If your child is currently in braces, then I recommend the Braces or Ultra Braces mouth guard by ShockDoctor.  These also come with easy to use instructions.The ShockDoctor mouth guards can be purchased at our office, at many athletic stores around town (Hibbetts, Dick’s Sporting Goods, etc), or online at ShockDoctor.com.

The differences in these Mouth Formed or “Boil and Bite” mouth guards are few, essentially they are all great products that will help to protect your child’s teeth and gums from trauma.  The ‘Gel –Nano’ and the ‘Ultra Braces’ mouth guards are more low profile allowing the child to talk more easily while the mouth guard is in their mouth.  I find that my own children are more compliant about wearing mouth guards if the mouth guards are less bulky and obtrusive.

Finally, my least favorite are the Stock Mouth guards. These are mouth guards that are designed to be used without any modification or change and must be clenched to be held in place.  So, these are the least protective of the different types of mouth guards.

Also, by the way, take my advice as a fellow soccer (or name your sport) mom… get the mouth guard case that clips onto your child’s sports bag.  It’s easy for these mouth guards to get lost if there is no case to put the mouth guard in after practice or games... And, it keeps it cleaner (Yuck). 

So, what if my child doesn't wear a mouthguard... Tooth trauma can have lifelong consequence. Trauma to the face and teeth cause pain, psychological effects (tooth loss/discoloration/ fracture), and have significant economic implications (in other words, fixing broken or missing teeth costs a lot so AVOID IT!). Traumatic dental injuries also have indirect implications including children’s lost hours from school, parents lost hours from work, consequences that burden children and their parents. The majority of tooth and face trauma that occurs during sports affects the upper lip, upper jaw and top front permanent teeth.  Use of a mouth guard can protect the top front teeth !  The teeth that we all smile with our whole lives!  Yes, even with a mouth guard in place and used properly, studies do show that dental and facial trauma can still occur, but chances are BETTER that it won’t!

What not wearing a mouth guard looks like...

Most importantly to remember…. Attitudes of parents, other players, coaches and officials influence mouth guard usage GREATLY!  There are only a few sports that require mouth guard use to play; football, ice hockey, lacrosse, field hockey and wrestling. It is up to us parents to ENCOURAGE our children to wear mouth guards for all organized sports, because the more players that are wearing mouth guards, then the easier it is to get kids to WEAR mouth guards… you get what I mean… right?  

Let’s make Mouth Guards the next COOL THING!  

**American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.  Policy on Prevention of Sports-related Orofacial Injuries.  Pediatric Dentistry 2013:35(special issue):  67-71.

***Copyright 2014 Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry

Dentists Need Hobbies Too!

One thing that you will learn about me through this blog is that I LOVE to travel!  Traveling is one of my families’ favorite hobbies and we are typically planning trips at any given moment… constantly looking for our next adventure.

Great idea for a family trip….New York City!

My husband and I took our four children to New York City last week for a long weekend trip, four days and three nights.  On the first day, we flew into JFK and our first adventure was to take the trains and subways to our hotel rather than a taxi.  With six people in our immediate family, if we cannot get a ‘van’ type taxi, then we end up in two separate cabs which is no fun and very pricey.  So, we decided to try our hand at the trains into Manhattan.  

Here is what we did; First, we downloaded an app onto our i-phones called ‘Embark NYC subway-New York City’ (free version of course) and it was the best app ever!! The app knows your current location in NYC, you then enter the address or landmark to which you are trying to travel via subway, then the Embark App will tell you exactly which trains to take, which subway station to use, how long before train arrives and the app is constantly updating to take into account construction and delays (so easy to use). We took the Air Train from the JFK airport to Jamaica Station which is a subway station hub. Then, we took the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to Penn Station.  At Penn Station, we caught the subway to Columbus Circle to our hotel on the West Side of Central Park.  Another reason that we chose to take the trains/subways into Manhattan was that our flight arrived during rush hour on a weekday and we had been told that the commute into Manhattan via taxi or car would be around 3 hours!  Our commute into Manhattan via the trains was just a little over an hour, much better if you ask me. All of the trains and subways were clearly marked and easy to use and there were transit authority workers happy to help along the way with our frequent questions. There were a lot of tourists and families on the trains so we felt very comfortable and safe.  

We stayed at the JW Marriott Essex House for three nights.  This hotel is located on the West Side of Central Park and is in easy walking distance to Times Square, Central Park, several museums, and most importantly, the biggest toy stores in the world (according to my six year old)!

We ate breakfast each day at a nearby deli named Angelo’s (the hotel breakfast looked great but was too pricey for our family of six). We visited Little Italy on the first night for dinner at Pellegrino’s and Pastries at Ferrara’s Bakery. We took the subway to and from Little Italy. 

On the second day, we took the subway to Battery Park and the ferry to Liberty Island to visit the Statue of Liberty.  Now this activity is a good four to five hour excursion, but it is definitely worth it to stand at the foot of an amazing monument and hear the FREE (yes I said free, which is a plus to any vacation) audio tour about what this monument means to many of our ancestors who came through Ellis Island.  

After the statue tour, we took the Subway back to the Central Park area and visited Dylan’s Candy Bar and window shopped at the designer stores along 5^th avenue… Then, we all took a long nap!  

New York City requires A LOT of walking. Like, more walking than we do in Disney world and that is a lot! My advice is to wear very comfortable walking or running shoes and carry a backpack/daypack for all of your ‘mom supplies’. Everybody there seemed to have a small backpack on, even the locals.  And another bit of advice… Don’t wear heels on the subway!  I tried to wear cute Wedge Sandals out to dinner to Little Italy on our first night and I ended up tripping getting onto the subway, rolling my ankle and falling backwards into the arms of a very kind stranger who broke my fall and kept me from injuring my head. It was flats for me after that for sure! 

The best part of our trip was when we toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a tour guide who was working on her PHD in Italian Renaissance Art. This guide, who was in her late 20s, was fantastic with kids, brought the art to life with stories about each painting, sculpture, and artifact. She told the most amazing stories about the Egyptian pyramids, mummies, tombs and kept the kids attention so well that the KIDS  requested that she stay with us an additional HALF HOUR (yes the children wanted to do more learning)! 

Other activities that we did throughout the weekend, that I definitely recommend... We saw Aladdin on Broadway which was fabulous! We ate dinner at John’s Pizza Times Square and enjoyed every bite. We also spent an afternoon walking through Central Park seeing the street performers and climbing boulders, which of course is my children’s absolute favorite thing about NYC… bouldering in Central Park (who'd a thunk it?).They love it so much that we got up early on our departure day so that they could climb more boulders!

To sum it up- NYC… GREAT family trip! 

And… by the way, I love to TALK about traveling too!  So feel free to ask questions if anyone is considering a trip to NYC with kids!

#nyc #familytravels #rohnerstakeNY #motherhood #children #kids #hobbies #art #centralpark #statueofliberty #broadway #aladdin

***Copyright 2014 Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry