We all have some fear of going to the dentist. Most of us have visited a dentist willingly or unwillingly and would agree that it can be quite painful! For my summer internship, I got the unique opportunity to be on the other side to understand the processes, experience the office environment and support the doctors and the staff. Really excited to go to Smile Wonders in Reston, VA.
Smile Wonders provides routine oral health exams, preventive dental care, sealants, fillings, fluoride treatment, special needs dentistry, laser dentistry, Tongue and Lip-Ties, laser infant frenectomy, mouth guards and is one of the few practices that caters to the children with special medical, physical or behavioral conditions.
I recall this day at Smile Wonders, Dr. Jaju scheduled me to the dental rooms where the dentists worked on the children’s teeth. I got to observe and support the specialist dental staff. Of course, I didn’t get to physically work on children’s teeth, but did get to shadow the dentist and look at the tools she used for cleaning. I helped out by grabbing different pieces of equipment for them such as floss, fluoride, glasses, balloons, X-ray cameras, and others. I also noted that Smile Wonders is decorated beautifully, with Navy blue walls, flowers, posters, and animal stickers in the many dental rooms. They have selfie stations, toys, and coloring books to keep kids occupied while waiting for their turn. In the dental rooms there are tv’s on the ceiling which helps distract the children during the appointment so that they have an easier and enjoyable time during their dentist visits. Lastly, they have a nursing room for moms to use during daily visits or surgical visits such as frenectomy (lip and tongue tie surgeries). While shadowing Dr. Jaju and the dental staff, I noticed a few habits and children’s behaviors during appointments. One frequent habit that I have noticed from all children is their attention span. Surprisingly, I noted that the doctors had to repeat themselves a few times for the children to understand and respond. Soon I realized that they were all busy watching their favorite TV shows!
My day was full of learning and observing and I liked to wear the special staff coat and move around the different rooms and watch all the staff professionally carry out the tasks. I was also impressed with the Covid protocols that were followed with all patients and to make their visit comfortable.
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