Joe Lichty

Keeping Everyone Safe in Our Offices

June 9, 2020 by Joe Lichty

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned all of our worlds upside down. Many things we took for granted a few months ago have drastically changed, and a trip to the dentist is no exception. Your child’s oral health and safety remain our highest priority. You can expect the same high-level of cleanliness, quality, and care in our offices. You can also expect to see some changes to ensure the safety of our patients, families, and staff. Here’s what you can expect on your next visit to one of our pediatric dental offices.

Increased Cleaning & Sterilization Measures.

Our staff cleans high-touch surfaces hourly, and we sterilize each dental chair between patients.

Personal Protective Equipment & Masks.

Our dentists and clinical staff will be wearing additional protective equipment during examinations. We will also ask that you wear a mask while in our offices.

Hydrogen Peroxide Rinse

For patients that are able to, we will ask that children rinse with a 1.5% hydrogen peroxide solution, such as Colgate Peroxyl, before beginning any treatment.

Social Distancing and One-Way Traffic.

We will be enforcing social distancing in our waiting rooms. We will utilize one-way traffic where possible to minimize crossing contact. Please be mindful of the markers throughout the offices.

Patient & Staff Screenings.

We will ask that all patients complete a screening questionnaire before being seen. We will also be monitoring patient temperatures. We also regularly screen our staff, and any team member showing symptoms or considered at-risk will not be permitted to work.

Removal of Toys, Books, and Games.

Certain high-touch items, such as toys and books, may be removed from the offices as they are challenging to clean and can increase the spread of germs.

Limiting Patients in the Office.

Our waiting rooms are often busy places. To ensure the safety of everyone, we must limit the number of patients in our offices. We ask that you do not bring extra family members to appointments. We may also implement check-ins via text messaging and ask that you wait in your car until our staff is ready to treat your child.

Modified Schedules.

We will be adjusting our schedules to allow us to treat as many children as we can while maintaining proper safety requirements. There may be a limited number of appointments each day, but also additional days or hours when our offices are open.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 866-KIDS-DENTAL. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Dental Mission Trip a Rewarding Experience for Children’s Dental Health Doctor

May 3, 2019 by Joe Lichty

Children’s Dental Health strives to be an active partner in each of our local communities. Recently, Dr. Sara Toema of our South Philadelphia office had the opportunity to expand the reach of our volunteer efforts on a global level.

Dr. Sara joined the Growing Smiles Foundation for its most recent dental mission trip to the South American city of Lima, Peru. The annual mission trip was started in 2012 and is operated in collaboration with the Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry and UPC, a local Peruvian dental school. The program provides quality dental treatment at no cost to children without access to care, or who can’t afford dental care.

Startup & Setup

For Dr. Sara and her fellow volunteers, the hard work began even before leaving Philadelphia. All the necessary dental materials including instruments, gloves and masks, portable dental units and chairs, portable x-ray machines, and sterilization units were packed in suitcases and transported with the staff to Peru. Needless to say, it was an interesting trip through airport security!

Once in Peru, the team set up shop within a local church’s indoor playground for the week. While the building was very spacious and had many windows, the 100-degree heat made for a challenging dental environment for both the kids and volunteers.

Often times you would see volunteers fanning patients and fellow doctors with folders or papers to create the even gentlest of breezes. Despite the sweltering heat, the team of volunteers was undaunted as they saw patients each day from 7 AM until 5 PM.

The Daily Routine

Each day they arrived, the team was greeted at the church by local families excited for the opportunity to have their children’s oral health concerns addressed. The Peruvian dental students would provide oral hygiene instructions to the children and their families and gather the necessary medical histories before any treatment was provided.

Dr. Sara and her colleagues would then conduct a clinical examination, take X-rays as needed, clean the teeth, and provide fluoride treatments. Children that required additional treatment such as fillings, extractions, or sealants were treated in the operatory area or came back the next day. Each day, there were a few tears and plenty of smiles, but every little boy and girl left with a toy, sticker, and a toothbrush on their way home.

The Language Barrier

Effectively communicating with both the children and their parents was expected to be an ongoing challenge during the mission trip, but thanks to UPC students and some of the Spanish speaking dentists, anxious parents were comforted and treatment plans were explained within a blink of an eye.

“I remember one of the parents that had a concern about her child, and with the help of a UPC student’s interpretation, I was able to address her concern,” remarked Dr. Sara. “The mother was so thankful and then said, “that is why it is important to learn English”. I was so humbled and couldn’t help but say, “that is why it is important for me to learn Spanish!”

The team also utilized facial expressions, body language and gestures to provide instruction without ever needing to utter a word.

A Rewarding Experience

Dr. Sara noted that the experience was very enriching on the professional level. The diverse mix of dentists with different backgrounds and a wide range of experiences plus the dental students made it a very prospering educational environment for everyone. “I literally learned something from every single person I met on this trip and was very happy to share all that I know!

From a personal perspective, the trip to Peru was extremely satisfying for Dr. Sara. “The opportunity to give back and help someone in need, especially a child, is a feeling no words can describe. I was touched by how much gratitude those families showed, when in fact I was the one truly grateful to provide such a service.”

One particular instance stood out in Dr. Sara’s memory. “A little boy who just had a tooth extracted, gauze still in his mouth, puckered his lips to offer me a kiss as a token of his gratitude. I’ll never forget that and how much that meant to him.”

We at Children’s Dental Health commend Dr. Sara on her efforts and are proud to have her as a member of our team of pediatric dental professionals. Way to go Dr. Sara!

A Dental Visit Guide for Children with Autism & Sensory Issues

April 18, 2019 by Joe Lichty

A visit to the dentist can often include a lot of new sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or individual sensory issues, the abundance of sensations and stimuli may be overwhelming. However, making regular trips to the dentist is an incredibly important part of building a good oral health program for children.

This article will provide tips for helping children with autism address dental health habits and prepare for regular visits to the dentist. Practice makes perfect! Regular brushing is essential to maintaining a child’s oral health, but some autistic children and those with unique sensory challenges experience difficulties in doing so. This may be difficult for a variety of reasons.

Sensory-Seeking Children

For sensory seeking children, brushing their teeth may be helpful in providing a calming effect. In order to ensure that all teeth are cleaned properly, consider the use of a rotating or electric toothbrush to provide additional stimulation. Parents can also sing a song like “This is the Way We Brush Our Teeth” (Set to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”) to make sure their child spends enough time brushing their teeth.

For children that are sensory avoiders, reluctance maybe because of the taste of the toothpaste, the sensation in and around their mouth, or a combination of factors. There are a variety of unflavored kinds of toothpaste that may be helpful for children where taste is the primary objection.

Toothbrushing Tolerance for Sensory Avoiders

Dentists recommend that all children should be actively supervised when brushing their teeth up until the age of 7-8 years of age. Some children may require a parent’s assistance in brushing their teeth until they are a bit older. To help your child become more comfortable in brushing their teeth or having their teeth brushed, consider a gradual approach in assisting them. You can move on to each step in the routine once your child feels comfortable with the previous step.

Start by providing gentle pressure to the back of their head for a period of five seconds, repeating three times. Do this three to five times per day, preferably where your child will be brushing their teeth.
While most people brush their teeth in their bathroom, you may choose to perform the activity in another area of the home where your child feels more comfortable.
Once your child is comfortable with pressure on the back of their head, you can begin to extend the routine by applying pressure to other areas of the head and face, such as below the ear and lower cheekbone, applying deep sweeping motions from the ear to the chin with your hands.
Apply pressure to the lower and upper lip and upper cheekbones with your hands.
Repeat the above pressure routine using a warm washcloth instead of your hands, encouraging your child to allow you to touch their teeth with the washcloth.
You can begin to introduce a soft-bristled toothbrush without any toothpaste once your child is comfortable with the washcloth touching their teeth.
Once your child is ready for toothpaste, use a pea-sized amount.

It may also be helpful to show your child how you brush your teeth, or brush along with them. It’s important to remember that every child, regardless of ASD or sensory processing issues, will have his or her own timeline for mastering each skill and feeling comfortable brushing their teeth on their own.

Preparing for your Dental Visit

Preparing children with autism for their trip to the dentist well in advance can be very helpful in easing anxiety and having a calm and successful visit. Many offices will allow you to schedule a tour in the weeks or days ahead of your actual appointment so your child will feel more comfortable in that setting. Be sure to discuss your child’s individual needs, concerns, or challenges with the dentist or staff before the appointment.

A visual schedule, or social story, may be very helpful in preparing children for their visit to the dentist. As with the sensory avoidance routine, it will help to practice each step until your child understands and feels comfortable with each part of the process before moving on.

You may find it helps to break the process into smaller, repeatable steps. For instance, you and your child may make the trip to the dentist, meet the front-desk staff, and sit in the chair without receiving treatment, then go home with a prize. This gradual approach may be helpful in alleviating anxiety and promoting familiarity.

A Visual Schedule for a Trip to the Dentist

Below is a sample visual schedule for a trip to the dentist. You can also download a copy of this dental visit visual schedule. Some families find it helpful to laminate this schedule or cut out each step and arrange them on a timeline with Velcro. As each step is completed, it is crossed off with a dry-erase marker or removed from the timeline.

We will be visiting the Dentist today to make sure my teeth and mouth are nice, clean, and healthy.
We’ll walk into the office and tell our names to the people at the front desk.
Until they call my name, we will play games, color, or watch television.
The hygienist will call my name and walk with me to a room with lots of special chairs.
The special chair will move up and down and lean back so the Dentist can look in my mouth.
When I sit in the chair, I’ll keep my hands on my belly and put my legs and feet straight out in front of me.
I’ll open my mouth as wide as I can so the Dentist can look inside. There will be a bright light so they can see. I can ask for special sunglasses or close my eyes if it is too bright.
The Dentist will count my teeth with a special mirror. It may tickle a little.
The Dentist will take special pictures of my teeth called X-Rays. I may have to sit down in a different chair and wear a heavy apron to take these pictures.
The Dentist will clean my teeth with special tools. They will show me each one and tell me what they are for before we use them.
When all my teeth are clean I will spit into the sink.
The Dentist will give me a special bag with a new toothbrush and toothpaste. I’ll also get a special prize when I leave the office.

Conclusion

With proper practice and preparation, regular dental visits for children with an autism spectrum disorder, sensory issues, or general anxiety, does not have to be a stressful or anxious event.

Children’s Dental Health welcomes families of autistic children and those with special needs. Our pediatric dentists and staff strive to make every visit to the dentist and fun and enjoyable experience for every child, every time.

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