Lasting Impressions | Fall 2016

42 © NSU LASTING IMPRESSIONS families. It was clear the kids felt at ease during the screen- ings and were inspired to keep visiting the dentist and take care of their teeth at home.” INTRICATE PLANNING e planning that goes into the CDM’s Give Kids A Smile event is immense. “Dental students will join us for the rst time, and they don’t believe how much work actually goes into this event,” Saltz said. “Predominantly, the help is in recruiting patients from the Boys & Girls Clubs and local public schools. We’ll actively recruit families at each site, handing out yers and event materials. We also provide health history and informed consent packets, so that when they come in, if they have everything signed and completed, we can see them immediately.” Speed is vital to the event’s success. With last year’s Give Kids A Smile attracting a record 697 patients— double the attendance of any previous Give Kids A Smile Day—the codirectors need all hands on deck, working collectively and e ciently. is team e ort includes help from faculty members and administrators, who are available for encouragement and to perform procedures outside students’ skill sets. “It’s a Saturday, they don’t have to be there, but they’re there,” Puri said. “People come to this event to help out in any way they can. e students were able to learn di erent techniques and talk to children and parents. It was an invaluable experience.” Some of these techniques involve developing a chairside manner suitable to pediatric dentistry. “One of the biggest things about treating children is understanding their mindset,” Puri said. “ ere’s this big component of anxiety, so it is di erent than treating adults. You’ve got to have behavioral management techniques to engage children. You talk to them at whatever level they’re at, try to build a really good relationship with them, and try to build that trust.” Student participants in Give Kids A Smile learn comfort- ing behavioral methods such as “tell, show, do” in which the student explains a dental instrument and shows its function outside the mouth before using it on the child. Students accomplish this through relabeling, such as calling an anesthetic “sleepy juice,” and positive reinforcement for every time the patient behaves well. “I had a younger patient in the CDM’s special needs clinic, and she loved Frozen ,” Saltz said. “So I had the song Let It Go on repeat for her entire appointment. Hearing that on loop for an hour may not have been my favorite, but it doesn’t matter. It’s for her. It’s being able to personally identify with your patients and tailor every aspect of their dental experience to meet their needs and interests.”