 |
 |
|
|
 |
Babies and Their TeethFeb. 20, 2003Doug Nadvornick: It’s the noon hour in the office of Spokane Valley pediatric dentist Dale Ruemping (remping)…and the little body of 21-month-old Willie is surrounded by a big chair.Dr. Dale Ruemping “Can you open really big, Willie? Open. Ahhh. Bigger. Can you open bigger? Ahhh. That a boy!” (fade the sound under the narrative) Doug: Willie’s laying back, trying to watch the movie on the television that’s beaming down at him from the ceiling. But it’s hard for him to concentrate while the dentist’s hands are in his mouth. Dr. Ruemping “Looks great, Willie. Your teeth are just perfect. Mom, he’s looking great. The brushing going okay?” (fade under again) Doug: Dr. Ruemping doesn’t keep Willie in the chair long, just enough to look over his teeth and swab them with flouride. There’s been a move in the dental community to get to children like Willie as early as possible. The American Dental Association recommends parents bring their children for a checkup within six months of the first tooth breaking through. Willie trots over to his mother Jennifer, new toothbrush in hand. The boy is not yet two, but Jennifer says it’s already his second visit to the dentist. Jennifer “He got a checkup when he was a year ago. He got his first checkup and he only had three teeth.” Doug “So why’d you bring him so early?” Jennifer “I didn’t bring my daughter when she was that early and she’s had a lot of problems with cavities in her teeth. So, I figure, start her out young. She’s also had a fear of the dentist. She did, until we came here. And I didn’t want him to have a fear of the dentist as well.” Doug: Willie’s parents brush his teeth twice a day and he gets flouride drops once daily. That’s the kind of dental attention Dale Ruemping says infants need. He sees children as young as eight months old and he tries to counsel their parents about the ways they can prevent their kids’ teeth from decaying. Dr. Ruemping “It’s usually the result of two things. One is poor oral hygiene habits or non-existent hygiene habits; basically, they’re not doing any maintenance on their teeth. And then the other factor, of course, is a bad diet, in which case, most of these children, at a young age, probably developing what we call ‘bottle decay’. And so the object is to let people know that this is a preventable thing, that they should not be letting a child take a bottle to bed with them, because this causes early decay pattern.” (fade out sound of dentist’s office) Doug: Dale Ruemping is one of several Spokane County dentists affiliated with the A-B-C-D program, Access to Baby and Child Dentistry. A-B-C-D is a state-funded, community-based program that pays dentists to see children six and younger, especially kids in families that don’t have dental insurance. Michele Vanderlinde, the oral health supervisor for the Spokane Regional Health District, says more than 20-thousand children have had their teeth checked in the eight years of the program. She says A-B-C-D is also for dentists. Michele Vanderlinde “Some dentists were not comfortable in seeing very young children. This program was targeted for dentists in training them to see children at a very young age. Infants, first tooth erupts, that’s when you want to see a child.” Doug: Vanderlinde says dentists and their hygienists were taught about how to work on their youngest patients. And they learned about making their offices more friendly to children. Now, she says, more dentists are participating and they’re seeing more patients. Vanderlinde “The most exciting part is the families that have had five children now, the dentists have told me that the families have said that they’ve changed the way that they care for their children’s oral health and general health, that they’ve become more aware, they know it affects their general health, it’s their readiness to learn. It’s the whole wellbeing of the total child and they’ve seen a difference from the first child that was through the program to the third or fourth child now.” Doug: The A-B-C-D program has been so successful that its administrators have created a second program, A-B-C-D-E. The “E” is for “expanded”, as in expanding children’s dental care to doctor’s offices. Dr. Chris Olson “In the past, the story was that pediatricians and family physicians looked at their tonsils in the back of their throat and never looked at their teeth and the dentists always looked at their teeth and never looked behind their teeth.” Doug: Dr. Chris Olson is a pediatrician in north Spokane. A year ago, he and his nurses were learning about how to spot tooth decay and administer flouride varnish to the childrens’ teeth. Now, Olson says, dental checks are a part of his regular routine with his young patients, even those not yet a year old. He says parents don’t seem to mind. Olson “I think they’re more willing to give flouride and take them into the dentist because the pediatrician is saying this is important.” Doug: A-B-C-D allows a child six flouride treatments a year, three at the doctor, three at the dentist, until that child turns 18. The A-B-C-D program is replicated in several other Washington counties, but Michele Vanderlinde says Spokane County’s program is seen as a national model. Vanderlinde “A colleague of mine called, ‘Oh! Michele, this is so exciting! I was giving my education to the mother and the mother said, as I was giving the education about the flouride varnish, what it does, the mother said, ‘Oh, I know about that. My physician’s doing it.’’ And he said that was just great. So we know the community is interacting. The physicians are talking with the dentists. The dentists are talking with the physicians. It’s a nice communication.” Doug: Vanderlinde and Dr. Dale Ruemping continue to train medical doctors for the A-B-C-D program. And they continue to try to convince parents to bring in their children as early as possible for checkups. For “Growing Up Healthy”, I’m Doug Nadvornick in Spokane. By Doug Nadvornick 
|
||||||||||||
