Your Child’s First Visit

Welcome!

We’re excited to have you join our dental family!

Our Office Policies

Paperwork
When you are scheduled for your child’s first visit we will email you a link to our patient portal. The link will expire in 24 hours, so be sure to sign into the portal within 24 hours of receiving your email. This will be your home base to fill out any paperwork and see upcoming appointments. If you have multiple children our front desk will assign new patient paperwork for each child, but you will only need one portal login. If you ever need to access the portal, click the link at the bottom of this page. We want your first appointment to go smoothly, so to help us please fill out your child’s paperwork before their appointment or arrive 15 minutes early to complete paperwork. That way we can confirm your insurance and get ready for your child’s visit. If you do not arrive with appropriate time to complete paperwork your child may not have enough time to complete their cleaning and exam.
Change of information
It is your responsibility to update our office if your contact or insurance information changes.
Courtesy
Our office and staff are here to assist your child’s needs in any way possible. We work hard to ensure that you and your child are safe, comfortable, and cared for. However, if any staff member is met with disrespect, physical or verbal abuse, or if S’more Smiles property is damaged, your child will be dismissed from our clinic and will need to seek treatment elsewhere. We will provide emergency care for 30 days after dismissal.
Preparation
Please treat your child’s visit with us as a relaxed everyday occurrence, like going to the store. Teasing or telling scary stories about dental visits must be avoided. Once in the treatment room, our team will explain the procedure in order to put you and your child at ease.
Animals
No animals are allowed within our office. This rule is in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for infection control in dental clinics. Service animals with proper paper documentation are welcome in our office. Please bring documentation to your child’s visit.
Remain in our office during appointments
The legal guardian or approved escort of the patient needs to be present during their visit and remain on the premises during appointments.
Broken appointments
Please arrive on time to your child’s dental appointment. If you are unable to keep your child’s appointment please call S’more Smiles as soon as possible to reschedule. If you are more than 15 minutes late to your child’s appointment we will reschedule you out of respect for our already scheduled patients who arrived on time for their appointments. A broken appointment is defined as not showing up for a scheduled appointment, cancelling an appointment within 24 hours, or arriving more than 15 minutes late. If an appointment has been broken 3 times, your child will be dismissed from our clinic and will need to seek treatment elsewhere. We will provide emergency care for 30 days after dismissal.
Sibling Scheduling
We schedule multiple children of the same family at the same time as a courtesy. However, if one appointment is broken for a family group, each child of that family will need to be scheduled at separate appointments for future visits.
Prime Time Scheduling
8am-10am and 3pm-4pm are prime time appointment times. If your child is scheduled during prime time and the appointment is broken, your child will no longer be eligible for a prime time slot and can only be scheduled for 10am-2pm appointment slots
Infection Control
When you arrive at our office, we encourage mask wearing and we have hand sanitizer at the doorway. If your child or anyone in your family is experiencing symptoms of COVID, please call our front desk to reschedule. No one wants to see the dentist when they’re feeling under the weather!
Our office has a one parent per patient policy. This means only the patient and their guardian or escort may enter our office for the patient’s scheduled appointment. Siblings, additional family members, or friends who do not have a scheduled appointment that day are not permitted to enter our office. If additional siblings, family members, or friends attempt to accompany a patient and their guardian or escort to a scheduled appointment, the patient will be rescheduled and it will count as a broken appointment.
Your Child’s First Visit
Once checked in one of our assistants will start the appointment. Most first appointments can take from 20 to 40 minutes. Our hygienists will clean your child’s teeth and confirm any medical history information. If Dr. Cat requires additional information to create a treatment plan for your child, x-rays may be taken. After that Dr. Cat will examine your child and discuss with you her findings and next steps to keeping your little one’s mouth healthy.
We encourage you to ask as many questions as you like throughout the appointment.

Behavior Management Techniques we use

It is our intent that all professional care delivered in our dental operatories shall be of the best possible quality we can provide for each child. Providing a high quality of care can sometimes be made very difficult, or even impossible, because of lack of cooperation of some child patients. Among the behaviors that can interfere with the proper provisions of quality dental care are: hyperactivity, resistive movements, refusing to open mouth or keep it open long enough to perform the necessary dental treatment, and even with aggressive or physical resistance to treatment, such as kicking, screaming and grabbing the dentist’s hands or the sharp dental instruments. All efforts will be made to obtain the cooperation of child patients by the use of warmth, friendliness, persuasion, humor, charm, gentleness, kindness, and understanding. There are several behavior management techniques that are used by dentists to gain the cooperation of child patients to eliminate disruptive behavior or prevent patients from causing injury to themselves due to uncontrollable movements.

The behavior management techniques used in our office are as follows:

Tell-Show-Do

The doctor or dental assistant explains to the child what is to be done using simple terminology, then shows the child what is to be done by demonstration with instruments or a model or the child’s own finger. The procedure is then performed in the child’s mouth as described. Verbal praise is used to reinforce cooperative behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

This technique rewards the child who displays any behavior which is desirable. Rewards include praise, a pat on the back, a hug or a prize.

Voice Control

The attention of the disruptive child is gained by changing the tone or increasing or decreasing the volume of the voice. Content of the conversation is less important than the abrupt or sudden nature of the command. It may be a firm tone, but is never shouting or angry.

Mouth Prop

A solid device is placed in the child’s mouth to prevent closing when a child refuses or has difficulty maintaining an open mouth. Use of a “tooth pillow” comfortably allows the child to rest the teeth on a solid point, eliminating having to hold open.

Verbal Praising

The most commonly used method to solicit good behavior. Example: “That’s good, sit still Billy”.

Distraction

Sudden, fast, intensive, animated talking often successfully diverts the attention for a crying child long enough to reestablish real communication with the child. Also the use of visualization, imagery, and storytelling make great distractors.

Ignoring

Minor unwanted behaviors can often be ignored when they do not interfere with the procedures at hand. This technique can be sometimes used as a method for the child to successfully vent their stress.

Typically the various positive techniques are tried rapidly in succession until one is found to work. When these methods fail, the following may be considered:

Protective Stabilization

Pedi-wrap, and holding the child are restraining techniques for limiting the child’s movements to prevent injury to the child and doctor and to enable the doctor to provide the necessary treatment. The child is restrained to secure arms and legs comfortably but securely, and is placed in a reclined dental chair. This option is only reserved for life threatening emergency situations or by request from the parent of a special needs patient who requires gentle pressure to relax and feel comfortable in the dental chair. We will always obtain informed consent from you prior to using this technique, you will be present with your child throughout the entire appointment, and this will be documented in your child’s health record.

Financial Information

We can file any PPO plan in our office. If your insurance is not listed below then our office is considered out-of-network. If we receive your insurance information prior to or on the day of the appointment we will file your claim for you. It is very important that you are familiar with your insurance benefits and whether or not your insurance company will reimburse you if we are out-of-network with your provider.

There may be a payment required at the time of service, and this depends on your insurance. If you are unsure, contact your insurance company. All applicable co-payments, deductibles, non-covered payments are due at the time services are rendered.

We accept cash, check, debit, Master Card, Visa, American Express, and Discover.

Membership Program

We like to offer options! If your child does not have dental insurance or we are not in-network with your insurance company we have a membership club to make our services more affordable. Click to learn more on how to sign up and what savings you’ll receive!

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