Parent Zone?

"Is Your Clinic a No Parent Zone or Can I go back with my child?”

Can you be a part of your child’s dental experience? Of course! Parents are ALWAYS welcome in our clinics. We love visiting with our parents as much as our patients, and we appreciate your help in giving your child the best dental experience that we can. 

However, we find that the majority of children do better on their own, feeling like a “Big Kid”! But, we know that… It completely depends on the individual child. Every child is different and we treat each child according to his/her individual needs.  The decision on where the parent remains during your child’s dental visit is best made after discussion between me and, you, the parent. Ultimately, it is based completely on what is best for your child.  You, as parents, know your children better than we do. I know that is a general answer. The more realistic answer is that all kids are different and all kids go through various phases of development. Each phase calls for a different scenario. You (the parent) and I would need to talk about the procedure and together decide what scenario would work best for your child.

Let me explain what I mean by that….

I know that with my four children the answer to this question varies depending upon which child we were talking about.  For one of my children, it would be best for me to tell her everything that is going to happen before we get to the visit so that I can help her work through all of the questions that she has about the procedure.  It would be best for mommy to be with her throughout the procedure.  On the other hand, another daughter would need to know what she was having done, but, at the visit, it would be best for me not to accompany that child.  I know that I would divert her attention toward me rather than allowing her to focus on the dentist or physician performing the procedure. For another of my children, it is best if we don’t get into too much detail about the procedure beforehand because the thoughts and questions (that lead to more thoughts and questions) create crippling anxiety that would probably prevent us from getting that child in the door. That being said, when at the procedure visit, this child would need me to attend in order to help manage her behavior. 

All of that explanation leads to this: all kids are different. I have 4 VERY different personalities in my children, which, in turn, helps me to better understand how to approach each of my patients. 

The bottom line is-- where a parent remains during the dental visit is best determined through a conversation (without your child present) between the dentist or dental hygienist and the parent.  When we can be absolutely clear about what the procedure includes in terms of discomfort, dental instruments (tools) used, sounds that your child will hear, tastes that your child will taste, etc.  A very realistic picture can be painted for the parent and then together we can decide. The reason we are able to explain so thoroughly is that our procedures are very routine- oriented. They never change, in order to supply each child with consistency whether they have to come one time or 5 times.

Finally, I always provide a written description of the procedure which describes how we will describe the procedure to your child during the procedure. Again, this procedure will not change depending on whether the parent attends the procedure or not.  That way, if you want to talk about things at home, you know what to say, what terms to use, and you can have a good conversation with your child without accidentally frightening him/her about what is to come. 

But, remember--sometimes it is nice to have a break as a parent. 

Waiting rooms can be relaxing for parents.  I have learned that I can bring stuff to read, things to get done while I have my sacred 30 minutes on my own. Many of our parents utilize this time to get things done that cannot be done as easily with kids around. We have free wifi and lots of great reading (our waiting room has a plethora of magazines and reading materials) or if you’d rather you can just veg out and watch one of the movies we are playing in our waiting rooms.

Please be sure to inform the front desk staff or the hygienist/assistant that you would like to accompany your child. We can go from there on whether or not the particular situation would be beneficial for your child. The best time to make this decision is following their cleaning appointments when Dr. Rohner informs you that they need to return for a filling or extraction. Ask all the questions you need. We will find the answers and come to a conclusion on what will be best for your child’s visit.

-From The Desk Of Dr. Rohner  F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

#parentfriendly #childfriendly #kidsdentist #parentsallowed #individual #children #personal #relationships #parenting #whatsbestforyourkid #dentist #ARPD #workingtogether #FAQs

Why Choose a Pediatric Dentist?

As I determined my career path I specialized in Pediatric Dentistry specifically, I had a strong desire to be able to make a change in children's lives. I knew I could do that by making that connection for children, that going to the dentist is fun! 

As a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry I can say that I am a “Big Authority on Little Teeth”.

The AAPD website serves as a great resource for parents!  www.aapd.org 

Happy Halloween!

Have you ever been to one of our local haunted houses?? My husband and I took our middle school daughter and her friends to a haunted house a few weeks ago and…. Wow, was that intense! There must have been a THOUSAND zombie actors (ok it was probably more like 30-but if felt like more, they where popping up everywhere) throughout the experience all with the purpose of scaring us to death!  Before we entered the factory, my daughter and her friends asked me if I was scared. I obnoxiously claimed that I would probably ‘laugh the whole time, no way was I scared it was all fake’ (famous last word).  I also tried to prep the girls by telling them to ‘fly under the radar', instructing them to not scream too much or the zombie actors would zero in on our group, terrorizing us the whole time. The girls nodded and assured me that they understood and would try to lay low.

Okay,so the zombies of the
haunted house were a bit scarier than this.

That lasted abooouuuuut... O-N-E second. Literally, the SECOND we entered the haunted house, the zombies were on us!  And, despite my earlier recommendation to those sweet girls, they all immediately started screaming- at the top of their lungs! So, guess what??  The zombies zero-ed  in our our little group, relentlessly.  

Now, let me set the scene for you and how it works at the haunted factory... All ticket holders are divided into groups who go through the factory together. It’s a group of maybe 50-100 people all in 

a single file line, clutching each other’s shirts (yes, strangers- touching each other) not wanting to lose the group. Who wants to get left behind, all alone, with a bunch of zombies? Did I mention that there is fog, flashing strobe lights, and EXTREMELY loud scary noises. Making it so you can barely see your hand in front of your face and you can’t hear each other at all??!? Oh, and my favorite effect, zombies squirting some kind of mysterious liquid on you (hopefully water?), in your face, on your hair, all over your clothes. The haunted house does not allow their actors to touch the guests, but wow did they get close!  Popping out of dark corners, dropping down from the ceiling screaming in your ears! To add to everything else all along the way you have to duck under pipes and valves and go up and down metal or concrete stairs (remember, you can’t see or hear). Worst part... you have to walk into the basement of this factory and squeeze through black inflatable walls- that are closing in on you!! Another fun treat is walking across a metal catwalk through a giant spinning canister (kind of like in a fun house) painted in glowing black light paint, kind of disorienting, while scary zombies are on the cat walk with you. 

This isn't use but I can guarantee
this is what we looked like, the entire time!

My  ‘mother of the year’ moment came when I shoved my 7th grade daughter in front of me to lead us through the chaos! Needless to say, I was unable to stay cool, calm, and collected as I planned.  I screamed the whole time while four young girls clung to me, screaming along with me!  We were like a little pile of people crab walking through the factory tour which seemed to last for hours (ok it was probably more like 25 minutes). 

Meanwhile, my husband was sauntering along behind us with a bored, slightly amused look on his face, that was until my daughter (who, as I said earlier,  I shamelessly shoved out front to lead our group-I know, mom of the year, right?) tells us that she has been clutching onto the stranger in front of us (bless this man’s heart, he was clearly someone’s dad to have been as patient as he was with us). At that point my husband heroically jumps to the front of our group so that she can clutch onto him instead of a random man. 

Call me crazy, but after all of that… it was SO MUCH FUN and we wouldn't have missed it for anything. We will probably make torturing ourselves, screaming through this haunted place, a yearly tradition!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love Halloween! Why?  Because it kicks off my favorite time of the year. It’s a time of year that we can dress up, act silly, go to haunted houses and give treats to our friends, family and neighbors.  It’s a time of year that the weather becomes mild and its enjoyable to go outside. All of the neighborhood seems to come out  and participate in fall festivals, trunk or treats, trick or treating, and Halloween parties. I see it as a wonderful month of community. I love that!  

At our office, throughout the year, we host several events to serve our community.  During this time of the year our community service events include a food drive and a backpack initiative for local foster children (more to come on those events later).  One of our favorite service events we are able to host is our Halloween Candy Buy Back, participating with Operation Gratitude.  

Each year my office hosts this event during the first few days of November in which children can donate their unopened Halloween candy to our US Troops. For every pound that patients bring to our office (up to 3 pounds), each child receives 1$ per pound and a goodie bag full of treats.  We also give away Firefly glowing toothbrushes (while supplies last) to all children who make a donation to this cause. We are buying back so that we can give back to our U.S. Troops together!  So, come join us for the Halloween Candy Buy Back this year taking place at our office Monday November 3rd-Thursday November 6th. Look for more information on the blog in the coming weeks about our other service events.  Happy Halloween!

#trickortreat #halloween #scared #hauntedhouse #community #ARPD #drrohner #kidsdentist #halloweencandybuyback #HCBB #carepackages #candy #cash #prizes

****Copyright Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry 2014