introduction C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 4 9 , Nº 1 0
Pediatric Patients, Parenting and the Pandemic: Caring for Children in Modern Times Sharine V. Thenard, DDS, MS
GUEST EDITOR Sharine V. Thenard, DDS, MS, is a practicing pediatric dentist in the Bay Area. She earned her DDS from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her MS degree and certificate in pediatric dentistry at The Ohio State University and Columbus Children’s Hospital (now Nationwide Children’s Hospital). Dr. Thenard has served as past president of the California Society of Pediatric Dentistry and the
Alameda County Dental Society and as trustee of the California Dental Association and currently serves on the TDIC/TDICIS board. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and American College of Dentists. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
W
hen I entered my residency in the early 2000s, there was already talk among pediatric specialists about how prevalent parenting styles were changing from previous generations. More than 15 years later, the consensus is it is still happening. Being a pediatric dentist is challenging. Children are unique. They are not “little adults,” and their teeth are not just smaller versions of permanent teeth. I would say, however, that the greatest challenge in treating children is not the clinical aspect, but the behavioral and psychological aspects. Children are attached to adults, and the accompanying adult also has plenty of emotional needs that the dentist must assess and decide how to address. Parental guilt, defensiveness or denial are all emotions that any dental professional needs to deal with, along with sometimes unrealistic expectations or very prescriptive guidelines from parents. I remember one mother telling me before
an operative appointment with an anxious boy: “Don’t tell him about his cavities, don’t tell him why he’s here today, don’t let him see any dental tools, don’t use nitrous … and don’t let him cry!” In addition to being a pediatric dentist, I am also a parent of three children. If there is one thing that makes a decent human being feel insecure, frustrated and at times helpless, it is being a parent. Parenting is incredibly complex, challenging and emotionally charged. I often find myself getting very frustrated with my children, while being patient with other people’s children in the office is a given. I can confidently say that many of us who are currently raising children have decided which elements of parenting we would like to replicate from our own upbringing and which we adamantly refuse to use on our own children. Many parents today take guidance from books or other parents and do their best. Parenting is happening in the context of today’s society, not in isolation and not in the society of days past. O C TOBER 2 0 2 1
611
