Patient Information

Welcome

We are part of a specialty that provides the highest quality of care in a fun and caring way. Our authentic commitment to patient care encompasses all aspects of child development with a strong emphasis on prevention and behavior management. Our team understands the nature of the dental experience to a new child, and we would like to help children and parents make this new experience amenable. We understand parent's concerns and children requests. With this in mind, our services and care are customized for the best interest of every child.

When you visit Piedmont Pediatric Dentistry, your child's oral health is our top priority. Dr. Negron, Dr. Mendoza-Sobel and our entire team are dedicated to providing you and your child with the personalized, gentle care that your child deserves. We strive to provide a positive experience and a pleasant and interesting visit for your child.

Part of our commitment to serving our patients includes providing information that helps them to make more informed decisions about their child's oral health needs. This website is a resource we hope you’ll find both useful and informative.

Hours of Operation

Our office working hours are 8:00 AM - 12:00 noon and 1:00 - 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Please give our office at least 24 hours of prior notice if an appointment needs to be re-scheduled. In our practice, we do not overlap patients, thus if you do not come to an appointment we have no patients to see. This prevents us from caring for other children in our practice.

If your child has an acute emergency situation, every attempt will be made to see you that day or as needed. Our doctors are on-call “24-7”.

Financial Policy and Payments

Dental services are paid for at the time of treatment.

For your convenience, we accept Visa and MasterCard. In addition, we are “Delta Dental” preferred providers, however, other insurances are welcomed as an out-of-network option. Our office will make every effort to facilitate the insurance payment process. To accomplish this, we work with you to maximize your insurance reimbursement for covered procedures. We make a good faith estimate of the amount your insurance company will pay. We bill your insurance company promptly, but we cannot guarantee insurance company payment. You are responsible for the amount not paid by insurance. Please provide all necessary insurance information at the time of scheduling your child’s visit. In certain occasions, we will ask for your medical insurance information as there are visits or treatments that could be covered by this. If you have questions regarding your account, please contact our well-informed staff

First Visit

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) advocates the first "regular" dental visit to be just after your child's first birthday or 6 months after the first tooth erupts, whichever comes first. After conducting a Risk Assessment, we will gently examine your child's mouth. Depending on your child's age and behavior, a lap-to-lap examination may be necessary. "X-rays" may be taken (to reveal decay and check on the progress of your child's permanent teeth under the gums). We may clean your child's teeth and apply topical fluoride to help protect the teeth against decay. We will make sure your child is receiving adequate fluoride at home. Most important of all, we will review with you how to clean and care for your child's oral cavity according to his/her susceptible risk factors.

Parents, please be mindful of what you tell your children about dental visits. Fears passed down from parents or other adults may contribute to why some children are afraid to go to the dentist.

Some tips that can help to make your child's 1st dental visit a pleasant experience:

• Try to make your child's first dental visit without any major treatment or appointment.
• Explain the procedure to your child using comfortable words.
• Get your child to talk about how he/she feels and what they expect from the dental visit
• Read child-friendly books on visiting the dentist (i.e. “Dora’s first visit to the dentist”)

In order to get familiarized with your young child's first dental experience and exam, please Watch this video.

Office Forms: (Feel free to print & fill out the appropriate info prior to your child's visit)

• Health History Consent / Insurance English Version
• Health History Consent / Insurance Spanish Version
• Risk Assessment
• Referral Forms for Providers
• HIPPA

Early Care

Infant / Toddler Oral Health Care

 

Every child should begin to receive oral health risk assessments by 6 months of age from a pediatrician or a qualified pediatric health care professional.

 

Infants identified as having significant risk of dental caries should be entered into an aggressive anticipatory guidance and intervention program provided by a dentist between 6 and 12 months of age.

 

"Knee-to-Knee" Exam

This position is commonly used to conduct an oral exam and apply a fluoride varnish application; and can be used by parents at home if they are having difficulty brushing their child’s teeth.

1. The parent and the examiner sit knee-to-knee
2. The parent places the child on their lap facing the parent
3. The parent puts the child’s legs around the parent’s waist and secures the child’s legs under their arms
4. The child is tipped back into the examiner’s lap
5. The parent holds the child’s hands
6. The examiner stabilizes the child’s head with one hand and instructs proper oral hygiene techniques.

"Lift the Lip" Exam

Conscious Sedation and General Anesthesia

Conscious sedation and general anesthesia are used as effective alternatives to conventional behavioral management techniques. Patients are selected based upon strict criteria, as each procedure and sedative agent has their own indication, risk, benefit and limitations. General criteria include young age, extent of dental work required and inability to cooperate in a regular dental setting.

Conscious sedation is performed using a combination of oral sedatives and nitrous oxide/oxygen. The sedative medications used result in decreased anxiety and level of consciousness. For these reasons, we are compliant with the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry to use their required monitoring devices. Strict pre-operative and post-operative protocols are explained to the parents or guardians at the time the appointment is made.

Dental procedures under general anesthesia are also performed in the office for healthy children in collaboration with Pediatric Anesthesiologists from Children’s Hospital Oakland. (See Brochure/ visit www.doctorsleepyteeth.com). Patients selected for treatment under general anesthesia are usually very young, have extensive dental caries and/or have proven to be untreatable under any other method, including conscious sedation. In addition, our office maintains privileges at Children's Hospital Oakland to utilize its operating room facility, if needed.

Sedation Dentistry or General Anesthesia are most helpful for:

• Infants
• Children who require major treatment
• The very anxious child
• Children that have had traumatic dental experiences (sound and smell aversion)
• Children with a strong gag reflex
• Children who are medically compromised or who are mentally handicapped