Crying, stress, anxiety, panic… Some children, deprived of the support of their parents, have been going through trying times in the offices of dentists and orthodontists since the start of the pandemic. Parents are calling for a relaxation of the rules.
“She was inconsolable. She was in a terrible state, it was scary. And it lasted two hours after the date. ”
Josée Labelle, a mother from Repentigny, painfully remembers the state of her 9-year-old daughter after an appointment with the dentist. Charlie-Rose had to have his lip frenulum cut to prevent his teeth from loosening… and the operation took place without his mother being present. As for all the parents mentioned in this text, the visit took place during the last year.
“I was not warned that I could not be with her,” said the 37-year-old.
My daughter gave me a look that meant ‘don’t leave me’ and she left. She kept everything inside… And I argued, but they didn’t let me in. I waited in my car for 30 minutes.
Josée Labelle
What she regrets most about this heartbreaking situation is the attitude of the staff. “I was made to feel like I was the one who was too intense, too protective or anxious,” says M.me The beautiful. It wasn’t a good time for anyone. And since then, my daughter’s anxiety about going to the dentist has increased. ”
Relegated to the waiting room while her 5-year-old daughter was having three cavities repaired, a first experience for her, Anne-Marie Auger challenged the secretary who denied her access to the room. “I heard Claire cry and I was told over and over that unfortunately I couldn’t go see her,” says the 36-year-old Sherbrooke resident. I wanted to be a good student and follow directions, but at some point when you hear your child’s sobs, it’s unbearable! ”
PHOTO MAXIME PICARD, LA TRIBUNE
Anne-Marie Auger and her daughter Claire
After five minutes, Mme Auger went to see his daughter. “All the staff gave me big eyes. Clearly, I was not welcome, ”drops the one who changed dental clinic.
Same scenario with the orthodontist
Mother of three daughters, Marie-Noëlle Poirier experienced a similar situation with 8-year-old Léonie during a visit that took place last week. Her younger daughter was forced to go to her first orthodontic treatment alone while she and her partner waited in the car. “When she left, she was in tears,” emphasizes the Montrealer, “when I was clearly made to feel that my request to be present was disturbing and that it was inappropriate. ”
Patrick Lepage’s 13-year-old son also went to his orthodontic treatment unaccompanied. And although this did not cause particular stress to his teenager, the 48-year-old father of Bois-des-Filion did not appreciate the rest of the meeting.
Since I had questions, I waited for my son to come back to meet the staff. Following our exchange, we needed my guy’s comments… so I went back to get him and I waited again. We were forbidden to be present at the same time. It looked like we were in the Pentagon!
Patrick Lepage
Amélie Laprade, a 49-year-old mother from Gatineau, experienced the same situation with her 10-year-old daughter who went alone to her orthodontic consultation: “The information is not getting, or not as it should. It lacks follow-up. And that generates a lot of frustrations! ”
Need assistance
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidelines regarding oral procedures. The 91-page document has been revised twice, in September 2020 and April 2021.
It is stated there that the professional must “ask the patient to come alone to his appointment” (regardless of the patient’s age) and that “if the latter needs assistance”, he must authorize “Only one accompanying person”, who, with some exceptions, “will not be allowed in the treatment room or in the waiting room”.
The document also states that access to the treatment room should be restricted “to the patient only”, but that “if the presence of an attendant is required and he is in close contact with the patient, he or she does not have not to respect the 2 meters ”.
Marie-Louise Harvey, public relations officer at the Ministry, argues that “it is not the number of outbreaks that is considered in these measures, but the risk of transmission of the virus”. She specifies that parents’ access to treatment rooms is “in the good judgment of the interveners and the parents”, and that “each dentist has his philosophy of practice during his interventions for the management of children’s behavior”.
Common sense
At the Ordre des dentistes du Québec, no complaint related to non-support by parents was brought to the attention of President Guy Lafrance.
He specifies that in his practice, at his Gatineau clinic, he listens to what the parent or child prefers.
Sometimes an attendant is needed, with a younger or more anxious child, for example. It takes good communication. Do the measures need to be reviewed? Maybe it’s time to readjust the shot.
Guy Lafrance, President of the Ordre des dentistes du Québec
The Ministry of Health and Social Services confirms that “the subject will be discussed with the Ordre des dentistes du Québec in order to determine whether a reminder of the directives should be sent to dentists”, comments Mme Harvey.
The president of the Association of Dentists in Quebec, Catherine Lessard, explains for her part that the presence of parents is sometimes harmful in the treatment room. “In 90% of cases, it goes well when the parent is not there. Sometimes the parent transposes his own anxiety to his child … Work also becomes less safe, because the child turns his head to see his parent. “
She specifies that “she would never surrender to the tears of a child in his chair”, because then “he will not want to come back”.
On the side of the Association des orthodontistes du Québec, the president Sonia Lapointe remarks that it can be “pleasant for the child to go beyond his fears and to feel a pride” to have gone alone to his appointment. -you. “But it shouldn’t be done by forcing the bill,” she says. You have to show common sense, humanity and flexibility. “