Orthotown June 2024 - 19

MESSAGE BOARD 1
Parents?
Townies weigh the pros and cons of letting parents back into treatment areas
fox2
Post: 1 of 23
2/2/2011
How many of you allow parents in the treatment
area? I'm taking over a practice that used to allow
this; we are changing the policy, asking them to wait
in the waiting room, and we're having a difficult
time with this policy. In all the other practices
I worked in, parents were not allowed in the back
and it was never a problem. Any suggestion would
help. Thanks! n
Sure, you'll occasionally have the mom who sits on
the end of the chair and won't shut up for even two
seconds. " What are you doing? " " What are you doing
now? " " Is that hurting, honey? " " What are you doing
now? " But even those would be far worse to have out
in the waiting room, talking to other parents. n
etaynor
Post: 4 of 23
2/2/2011
I'm glad I found this thread-I was going to post
fesdds
Post: 2 of 23
2/2/2011
We have always had an open policy for parents
to come back as they wish. They can pull up a chair
and sit at the feet or next to their child. This is not
a problem 99.999% of the time. One or two times a
year, we need to ask the parent to leave their child
and watch from the front because they are enabling
the child. This policy has done way, way more good
than harm.
There is an office in the area that as a hard rule
does not allow parents to come to the back. We
get families all the time that come to our practice
because they dislike or are frustrated with the other
office's policy on this matter. Win-win for me. n
the same question! Our practice and the practice I
trained in both discourage parents in the back. Here
are the reasons I was taught (and I concur with):
1. Over many years, I've tried to encourage all of
the orthodontic assistants to interact with the
kids. In a practice where the parents are present,
I observe too much parent/assistant talk,
and not enough children interaction.
2. When we give instructions, we almost always
give the instructions to the children, and then
to the parents and children. We were told to do
this by several orthodontic consultants who visited
our office. It is important to incorporate the
child, no matter how young, into the treatment.
3.
Usdhmjdds
Post: 3 of 23
2/2/2011
In ortho, I can't understand why you wouldn't
want parents to come back. Almost every time
you're giving the patient instructions, it's very
helpful to have the parent hear as well-OHI, elastics,
foods to avoid, excessive breakage, whatever.
Why take the time to repeat yourself to the parent
in the reception room? I know you'll " just have the
assistant do it, " but that still takes the assistant
away from the production area, and many things are
better heard directly from the doctor anyway.
5.
4.
I was told by a child psychologist that if we
engage the children (patients) actively in the
treatment, the whole course of treatment will
be better, and there will be more compliance.
I find that it is a negative reinforcement for the
child when the parent is asking, " Are you OK? "
" Did it hurt? " " Let me hold your hand. "
The first question I ask a new patient after
welcoming him or her to our office is, " So, what
is your hobby? " Invariably, if the child doesn't
immediately answer, the parent says to me,
" He (or she) likes sports. " I actually wanted
to hear the child speak and engage the child
in conversation to hear any lisps or lateral
sibilant sounds.
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