You may have heard that a child should have a dental home. What is a dental home?
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry defines the dental home as "the ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient, inclusive of all aspects of oral health care delivered in a comprehensive, continuously accessible, coordinated, and family-centered way."
We think it is best if you can develop an ongoing relationship with your dentist. Continued follow-ups and continuous care are a good thing, especially when it comes to your kids oral health. I have the ability to follow up on small lesions, monitor the caries risk over time and will be in a much better position to diagnose disease and develop an appropriate treatment plan.
"Jumping" from one dentist to another is not only confusing for kids, it is also making it difficult for the dentist to evaluate problems and come up with a predictable treatment plan.
Medicaid has embraced the dental home concept, but they use slightly different terms. In the Medicaid system it is called the "main dentist" .
We have had problems with the main dentist concept in Medicaid. It would appear logical, that patients would be assigned to the dentist, that they have seen in the past, often for many years. Unfortunately that is not how the system has been working. Kids are often assigned to dentists they have never seen before, and assignments change without parents asking for a different "main dentist".
You have the freedom to choose your child's dentist. I firmly believe it is in your child's best interest to choose a dentist, that will be willing and competent to provide an ongoing patient-doctor relationship, that will be able to handle diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of dental disease.
We are excited if you choose our office as your child's dental home, if you choose Dietmar Kennel DDS as your main dentist.
Even once parents have made that choice we still hear all too often that the assignment was changed. Please let us know immediately if that change was made without your request or against your wishes. I further recommend, that you file a written complain with both your insurance and the Health and Human Services Commission.
It is YOUR choice who is your child's dentist.
Dietmar Kennel DDS
Pediatric Dentist
Lubbock KIDS Dental
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry defines the dental home as "the ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient, inclusive of all aspects of oral health care delivered in a comprehensive, continuously accessible, coordinated, and family-centered way."
We think it is best if you can develop an ongoing relationship with your dentist. Continued follow-ups and continuous care are a good thing, especially when it comes to your kids oral health. I have the ability to follow up on small lesions, monitor the caries risk over time and will be in a much better position to diagnose disease and develop an appropriate treatment plan.
"Jumping" from one dentist to another is not only confusing for kids, it is also making it difficult for the dentist to evaluate problems and come up with a predictable treatment plan.
Medicaid has embraced the dental home concept, but they use slightly different terms. In the Medicaid system it is called the "main dentist" .
We have had problems with the main dentist concept in Medicaid. It would appear logical, that patients would be assigned to the dentist, that they have seen in the past, often for many years. Unfortunately that is not how the system has been working. Kids are often assigned to dentists they have never seen before, and assignments change without parents asking for a different "main dentist".
You have the freedom to choose your child's dentist. I firmly believe it is in your child's best interest to choose a dentist, that will be willing and competent to provide an ongoing patient-doctor relationship, that will be able to handle diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of dental disease.
We are excited if you choose our office as your child's dental home, if you choose Dietmar Kennel DDS as your main dentist.
Even once parents have made that choice we still hear all too often that the assignment was changed. Please let us know immediately if that change was made without your request or against your wishes. I further recommend, that you file a written complain with both your insurance and the Health and Human Services Commission.
It is YOUR choice who is your child's dentist.
Dietmar Kennel DDS
Pediatric Dentist
Lubbock KIDS Dental
RSS Feed
