New York City Conference

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry puts on a wonderful conference each and every year over Memorial Day weekend.  This year was in New York City, the city that never sleeps.  And so neither did we!  But we learned a lot!

Our hotel was in Times Square, which is an amazing place!  It is light like daylight all day long.  Thank goodness for black-out curtains in the hotel.  But at the same time it was a wonderful place to stay in the middle of the heart of New York City.  I took several classes and so did Stefanie, our office manager.  On Friday we took what is called "Miniclinics", which is a bunch of small lectures condensed into one 3 hour class.  We learned about "Performance Management of the Dental Team" first.  It was a very interesting lecture about staff retention, measuring success of your staff and their interactions, figuring out the best ways to make your staff work well with one another and with the patients and other staff issues.  It was truly fascinating and wonderful. Second topic of discussion was "Clinical Tips for Successful Placement of the Bonded Resin Composite Strip Crown".  It was a very good clinical lecture on how to make front baby teeth look good in case they have early childhood decay.  I learned a lot from this portion of the class and hope to use the techniques on the little ones.  The third topic was "Etch, Bleach, Seal Technique: Alternative or Adjunct to Microabrasion". Many of our patients have hypoplastic (under-formed) teeth that are esthetically challenging and upsetting to both the patients and the parents.  This lecture discussed methods of treating them using simple bleaching and sealant techniques that could help our patients with overcoming these slight imperfections without aggressive treatment.  The final topic in this lecture series was "New High Tech Gizzmos That Every Pediatric Dental Office Needs to Increase Efficiency and Productivity".  I am always excited to learn about new advances in technology and inventions in pediatric dentistry and this was a very fast paced, information loaded session.  We learned that we basically use the latest and greatest technology for our patients and I was so excited to hear that!  It is so good to know that we are up on top of the innovations and that our materials, instruments, techniques and software are the cream of the crop!

After this class we went to visit the exhibits.  We purchased a few new things that will aid us is better dentistry.  We are trying new front teeth crowns, we purchased Isolite dental illumination system and we shopped around for toothbrushes, toothpaste and such.  We spent many hours talking to dental manufactures and exploring new ideas for pediatric dentistry.

After that we had a bit of entertainment and saw Jersey Boys musical after dinner with a bunch of fiends from pediatric dental field.  We also trotted over to the Empire State Building which is truly amazing!  And then found our way back walking to Times Square.

On Satruday morning we took the final class: "Fraud and Embezzlement in the Dental Office"
 It was a truly scary class as you find out exactly how mean and conniving people can be. It was sad to see the case studies and it made us want to only have good and honest people in our office as we hope we have now!  Stefanie and I appreciated thinking of our staff and how amazing they are!

This was our final class.  After that we enjoyed New York City for another day of musicals, walking tours, biking in Central Park and lots and of sunshine.  It was a great trip and such a wonderful learning experience.  I'm already looking forward to next year's class in San Diego!

Warm welcome to Melissa

Some of you might have been around Smiles For Kids to remember Melissa Vaikhman.  She started in our office about 4 years ago when she was still in high school.  She worked with us during holidays and summers and two years ago she went to school to get her dental assistant license.  This is such a big commitment!  It requires a test, learning how to take X-rays, mastering OSHA and few other skills.  She of course passed the test with flying colors and did a great job.  Then she started college at Trinity University in San Antonio and is majoring in psychology.  Last summer she wanted to try her newly acquired psychology skills as a camp counselor and we missed her dearly here.  But this year she decided to come back and take over for Natalie who went back to school full time and left us for now.  We are so excited to have Melissa here!  She now finished her second year in college and is doing a fabulous job for us!  She is a fully trained dental assistant and you might see her this summer taking x-rays, doing parent talks, sitting in on exams and helping the kids get from one area to the next.  Please say HI to her and warmly welcome her back!  We are also interviewing for a full time dental assistant as Melissa will eventually go back to school.  So stay in touch to hear more about our newest team member as we find someone perfect and special to see our wonderful patients!

MS 150-Bike Ride From Houston to Austin

So we did it again!  This is the 8th time that our family participated in this amazing ride.  Have any of you guys done it? I'd love to hear about your experiences!  For those of you that have never done it or maybe even haven't heard about it... Here is our story:

We LOVE this bikeride!  It is a rain or shine event that has such wonderful, amazing, spirited and simply awesome riders and volunteers that it is hard to describe the atmosphere in words.  It starts on Satruday early in the morning with 3 different start lines.  It is about 100 miles of a ride if you start from the furthest one and 75 if you start from the closest one.  13,000 riders line up to do this ride.  Most of the riders have a team they ride with.  My dad, my husband and I have ridden with many different teams before, but this was out second year to ride with the Continental Airlines Team.  This particular team is super wonderfully organized!  We actually have support both days at lunch so we don't have to stand in line with the rest of the riders.  And aside from turkey and beef wraps they made me my FAVORITE food, peanut butter and jelly sandwich with bananas inside.  Gotta love it!

We spend this first night in La Grange TX on the county fair grounds. It is such a site!  Hundreds of teams set up their huge tents in the field.  Many with generators, kitchens, kegs of beer and fridges full of food.  Our team had lots of goodies and the evening spread included even a wine and cheese tasting party!  My mom and the boys as well as few friends of the family came to see us in La Grange and celebrated the evening with us.  We ate and drank and chilled out, but at 9pm sharp the lights are OUT.  And good thing since we had to wake up at 4:30am to get in our fabulous breakfast of eggs, yogurt, cereal, coffee and other goodies, get our bikes back in shape and hit the road!  That second day we rode 75 miles of hilly Austin countryside.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and we rolled up and down those hills without much delay.  It was such a fabulous ride!  I was so proud of my dad, who at almost 60 years of age did an amazing job both days!

We finally got to Austin around 2pm on Sunday and we were welcomed by crowds of spectators including mom and the boys as well as friends of ours.  We even managed to have dinner with some friends who live in Austin after they were nice enough to let us freshen up in their showers :)

I wish I could have all of you guys inspired to do this ride one day. It is just the most wonderful event I've even been in and I strongly encourage you to try it!  It is just such a great ride!

Well Baby Class

This past Tuesday we had a wonderful new class for parents and kids under three years of age.  We are so excited about launching this program because it gives us an opportunity to share our knowledge of oral health with so many parents! This class is completely free of charge or obligations to the families.  We provide snacks for both parents and kids and the only requirement we have is that the kiddos are under three years of age.  We are planning on having this event few times a year.

We first took this lively group of kids and parents on a tour of our beautiful office.  We showed moms and dads our state of the art digital xray room and explained our beliefs on when and how to take xrays.  We took them through the New Patient Room and talked about how we convince little ones to show us their pearly whites :).  We showed parents our hygiene area where Michele does the cleanings and our exam room.  We also showed them our "jungle and space travel" themed treatment rooms with TVs over the chairs that can entertain little ones while we fix any possible cavities.

After the tour we chatted with parents about all things that are important to little ones' oral health.  We had a slideshow about proper brushing and flossing techniques, about foods that are healthy for the teeth, about habits such as thumb sucking or pacifier use and other pertinent topics.  Finally we took each family to a separate room where our staff showed moms and dads how to properly brush little teeth and Dr. Lindhorst examined individual smiles for cavities as well as proper dental development.  As the parents were walking out, our front desk staff gave them prizes and answered any insurance questions they might have had.

It was such a fun morning and we all had a good time.  We are looking forward to the next session in 6 weeks on May 24th!

Our community service

February is "Children's Dental Health Month" and although it is the end of March already... we are still doing lots of things to spread the word about pediatric dental health and the world of pediatric dentistry.  Our main project in February is what we call "THE School Project".  Yvette, our dental assistant, goes to many schools in the area and does a wonderful presentation for the kids on dental care, healthy eating habits, cavities, prevention and other such issues. She does an amazing job and the kids are super excited to see her.  She sees about 1000 kids in local elementary schools, daycare centers and community centers.  She also gives each and every one of the little ones dental supplies, educational materials and fun dental related activities.  She truly is amazing so if you see her in your kiddo's school say HI and tell her she is doing a great job!

Yvette is also in charge of the different HEALTH FAIRS we participate in.  Just tomorrow she is going to the Harris County Clerk's Office to present the importance of dental health and to discuss with all the participants good oral hygiene and habits.  This Saturday she is doing a HEALTH FAIR in a local school, Helms Elementary School, where she will get to talk to students and parents about oral health.

On April 12th we are starting a new program for kids under 3 years of age where we will do a completely free class for parents with kids under 3 who want to learn about ways to take care of their children's dentition and  how to educate the little ones' on healthy habits.  If you are interested, call our office and schedule!  We have one more date available at the end of May.

And this is just what we've done in the last 2 months!  More coming soon so stay tuned!

Our 5th Anniversary Party and Open House for the new office

Hi everybody!

It was so nice to have so many of our friends yesterday at the Open House/5th Anniversary Party. We saw some patients and their parents, few new faces of people who just wanted to see our office before bringing kids in, many dentists of all specialties that we work with, and finally many of our business associates. 

I also loved seeing my personal friends come and celebrate with us! And what a party it was!!! Glorious Foods, my absolutely favorite cater, outdid themselves as they always do and prepared amazing "international" food spread. Oh, it was heavenly! Salmon cakes, crab filled pastries, eggrolls, chicken skewers, and many others were served with delicious sauces to the delight of our guests.

Our staff wore outfits from all around the world to enforce our "Travel Around The World" theme. We gave tours, caught up with old and new friends and truly had a blast. I want to thank all of you who took the time to visit with us! You are all absolutely wonderful and such a key part of our growth and vision... Thank you and please come play with us any time!

Originally Posted: July 5, 2010 - By: Dr. Lindhorst
Summer 2010 is here and it is HOT here in Houston!!! We had a fun spring at Smiles For Kids and we are really enjoying the summer since as always it is busy, busy, busy. In the spring we did lots of new fun things… We hired a new wonderful hygienist since Rae decided she needed to take a break from working with kids and moved on to a general dental office. We will miss her dearly and we wish her luck in her new endeavors. Meantime we found Michele!!! Oh my goodness she is great! She recently graduated from the dental hygiene program and is as eager, innovative and fun as you can get. She loves working with kids and she is really, really good at it. If you have not met her yet, you will soon and I guarantee you will love her.

Around the same time we had a change in our front desk staff. Jessica left our practice, but we got Lindsay as an incredible reward! Lindsay has had few years of experience working in a pediatric dental office and she is very knowledgeable on insurance issues, treatment plans and any other questions you might have about technical and financial topics. She is cheerful and full of energy and I think you will find her very helpful when you call or when you come for your next appointment.

Everybody else is doing GREAT! Our back staff is having fun with few new things we have incorporated into our daily routines. One of the greatest things you will find our office using is ORAVERSE. Check it out here. It is the only medicine that reverses oral anesthesia and numbness of your mouth. It is a rather incredible drug that allows you to be able to eat, chew and speak normally very soon after a dental procedure. We are very excited about having it incorporated into our practice and we will be happy to answer any questions connected with it.
We are also now connected to Facebook. Please join us there to hear the latest updates and daily adventures of Smiles For Kids. You can keep up with us and all our new discoveries that way.

One more exciting piece of information is that we are looking into moving our office into a bit more comfortable, modern and accommodating space! I will not tell the secrets yet as nothing has been signed, but… we are moving just a mile or so away, right on the feeder of I-10 to an office that is about twice the size of what we have now. We are in final stages of planning and financing our new project and we will let everyone know as soon as it is in motion where and when we are moving! So for now, please keep your fingers crossed and think of us as we are moving through this grueling procedure.
As for other news from this spring… as always my husband and I with my dad in tow have done a few runs, a bike rides and a few trips :) So here is what my wonderful family has been up to. First of all I did my first full marathon in Dallas right before Christmas time. My dad has a goal of running all 4 major Texas marathons and this was another one he checked off his list. 26.2 miles of fun and games! I must say it wasn’t too bad and I enjoyed training for it with my dad and my wonderful husband. We did lots and lots of runs in the urban Houston area, but we also ran in some state parks such as Brazos Bend to train for this big day. Everyone did great!

Then we ran the Houston ½ marathon in January and finally we switched to biking in preparation for the MS-150 in April. This year the weather held up for us although we had many threats of rain and storms and it rained ALL NIGHT as we were sleeping in the tent at La Grange. But the road was clear although a bit wet and it stayed cool thanks to the overcast sky. My mom and her friend and our cute little boys met us in Austin to cheer for us and to bring us back home. Then in May we took a trip to Switzerland with the boys. We have friends who live there and they prepared a very neat tour of the Swiss Alps for us. We stayed in a little “village” called Beatenberg and hiked the beautiful mountains, rode many trains, buses, and funiculars and even took a boat ride on one of the two lovely lakes we could see in the valley below our home in the mountains. The weather was rather ugly with lots and lots of clouds and it rained or snowed every day.

BUT we managed to have a great time anyway and both Christoph and Luki did a great job hiking and hiking. Few weeks later we went to Chicago for the annual AAPD conference. At first I wasn’t too excited about Chicago, but boy was I wrong! What a great city! It was hard to stay in class when the weather was lovely and the city was calling. But I did !!! I took some great classes on pediatric oral pathology, new findings in pediatric oral pharmacology, esthetic restorations of anterior teeth and what they call “mini-clinics” which are many short presentations on various topics in pediatric dentistry. But I also got to hike the downtown of Chicago, see views of the city from Hancock Center as well as from Willis tower (former Sears tower), admire the architecture of Chicago from an architectural boat tour, hang out at Navy Pier and play in the Centennial Park. And to top off the great trip I also was able to catch up with many of my friends from pediatric dental residency that live now all over the country.

Of course we ate at Gino’s East, which has at least an hour wait of just standing in line outside but the pizza is worth every second of it! I’m a convert of Chicago and will recommend it to anyone who wants to visit. Especially if you are going in the beautiful spring time! And now here we are… busy in the summer time in our office. We are enjoying all of our patients and waiting for our college kids to hear their stories! We have had a few new high school graduates excited about their new college life coming up and we share their excitement and congratulate them from the bottom of our hearts! Enjoy your summer dear patients and parents and we want to hear from you soon! And Happy 4th of July!