How To Write A Pediatric Dentist
For Children With Autism, Opening a Door to Dental Care
By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS OCTOBER 20, 2014 4:57 PMOctober 20, 2014 4:57 pm 9 Comments
CreditKatie Hayes Luke for The New York Times
KATY, Tex. — Like many parents of children with autism, Nicole Brown feared she might never find a dentist willing and able to care for her daughter, Camryn Cunningham, now a lanky 13-year-old who uses words sparingly.
Finishing a basic cleaning was a colossal challenge, because Camryn was bewildered by the lights in her face and the odd noises from instruments like the saliva suctioner — not to mention how utterly unfamiliar everything was to a girl accustomed to routine. Sometimes she’d panic and bolt from the office.
Then in May, Ms. Brown, 45, a juvenile …show more content…
Amy L. Luedemann-Lazar tries to make David Villarreal, 2, comfortable.Credit Katie Hayes Luke for The New York Times
Dr. Elizabeth Shick, a pediatric dentist who helped write a dental professionals’ tool kit for Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization, agreed. “With the increase of autism spectrum disorder patients out there, there are not enough pediatric dentists to see everyone,” she said. The 146-page kit has been downloaded more than 4,000 times since its release in 2012. Autism Speaks also has a state-by-state directory with 500 dentists referred by parents, up from 40 in 2007, its first year.
Other kinds of help are available, too. Dr. David Tesini, a dentist in Sudbury, Mass., recently released a new DVD of his D-termined program that teaches professionals how to familiarize an uncooperative child with a dental cleaning. The first DVD has long been used in some pediatric dental practices — including Dr. Luedemann-Lazar’s. Dr. Tesini said he developed the program, in part, because “very often, parents believe that their child is not ready to go to the dentist and has behavioral problems that the dental team won’t be able to manage.”
“It’s wrong,” he continued. “That’s the message we have to get …show more content…
“There is a lot more awareness about autism in the dental community, which is driving dental professionals to seek more information and want to take more continuing education to learn how to provide care for this population,” she said.
Ms. Raposa, whose son has profound autism, noted that it “takes extra time to get these kids to trust you,” and “that costs chair time — that costs the dentist money.”
But Dr. Luedemann-Lazar said that in her office, desensitization visits were usually delegated to her hygienist and assistant, though a room needs to be set aside.
“From the dentist perspective, once you learn the D-Termined program and train your staff, it’s not that different,” she said. “You go in and do an exam at the end.”
Dr. Robert Rada, a special-needs dentist with a solo practice in La Grange, Ill., says children with autism need time and flexibility to settle into the routine. He invites parents into the treatment room, because they can translate for nonverbal
By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS OCTOBER 20, 2014 4:57 PMOctober 20, 2014 4:57 pm 9 Comments
CreditKatie Hayes Luke for The New York Times
KATY, Tex. — Like many parents of children with autism, Nicole Brown feared she might never find a dentist willing and able to care for her daughter, Camryn Cunningham, now a lanky 13-year-old who uses words sparingly.
Finishing a basic cleaning was a colossal challenge, because Camryn was bewildered by the lights in her face and the odd noises from instruments like the saliva suctioner — not to mention how utterly unfamiliar everything was to a girl accustomed to routine. Sometimes she’d panic and bolt from the office.
Then in May, Ms. Brown, 45, a juvenile …show more content…
Amy L. Luedemann-Lazar tries to make David Villarreal, 2, comfortable.Credit Katie Hayes Luke for The New York Times
Dr. Elizabeth Shick, a pediatric dentist who helped write a dental professionals’ tool kit for Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization, agreed. “With the increase of autism spectrum disorder patients out there, there are not enough pediatric dentists to see everyone,” she said. The 146-page kit has been downloaded more than 4,000 times since its release in 2012. Autism Speaks also has a state-by-state directory with 500 dentists referred by parents, up from 40 in 2007, its first year.
Other kinds of help are available, too. Dr. David Tesini, a dentist in Sudbury, Mass., recently released a new DVD of his D-termined program that teaches professionals how to familiarize an uncooperative child with a dental cleaning. The first DVD has long been used in some pediatric dental practices — including Dr. Luedemann-Lazar’s. Dr. Tesini said he developed the program, in part, because “very often, parents believe that their child is not ready to go to the dentist and has behavioral problems that the dental team won’t be able to manage.”
“It’s wrong,” he continued. “That’s the message we have to get …show more content…
“There is a lot more awareness about autism in the dental community, which is driving dental professionals to seek more information and want to take more continuing education to learn how to provide care for this population,” she said.
Ms. Raposa, whose son has profound autism, noted that it “takes extra time to get these kids to trust you,” and “that costs chair time — that costs the dentist money.”
But Dr. Luedemann-Lazar said that in her office, desensitization visits were usually delegated to her hygienist and assistant, though a room needs to be set aside.
“From the dentist perspective, once you learn the D-Termined program and train your staff, it’s not that different,” she said. “You go in and do an exam at the end.”
Dr. Robert Rada, a special-needs dentist with a solo practice in La Grange, Ill., says children with autism need time and flexibility to settle into the routine. He invites parents into the treatment room, because they can translate for nonverbal