As part of the growing awareness to take preventive measures against tooth decay, schools began requiring dental examinations. As stated in the previous newsletter, 51 million school hours are lost due to dental-related illnesses, so the school exams were put in place to help subdue these numbers. In July 2005, school dental examinations became required for kindergarten, second and sixth grades. This is mandatory of all public and private schools. Examinations must be performed by a licensed dentist and he/she must sign a form as proof of the exam. These forms must be presented to the school by May 15th of that school year. There is a dental exam waiver form, but you must be eligible to receive this form. If either form is not turned in on time, the child's report card may be held until the school obtains the form.
 
Every school then reports to the Illinois State Board of Education in June to determine which children had dental exams. Children can be exempt from these dental exams based on religious objection, medical reasons, disability, or lack of public or private dental insurance.

As part of pediatric dentistry, the care of special needs patients is an integral part of the practice. At Children's Dentistry Group, we provide all the necessary accommodations for special needs patients. Dr. Herer has been treating special needs patients for over thirty years. It is an important aspect of the practice to be able to provide services to these patients. Parents discover it is sometimes difficult to find proper dental care for these children. Many of Dr. Herer's patients began seeing him as children and currently see him as young adults. These patients include those with medical, physical, mental, behavioral, and emotional special needs. Drs. Herer and Patenio, as well as our entire team, welcome these patients.
 
Our office is set up to meet the needs of patients with handicaps and limited mobility. We have handicap parking and are located on street level, making front door access easy for patients and parents. Our office has wide door frames, so wheel chairs easily fit through and the examination rooms are wide-set as well. Wheel chairs, or any other equipment a special needs patient may have, effortlessly fit and move around our office. Some patients are not able to be taken out of their wheel chairs, so we are able to provide care with them in their chairs. 
 
Drs. Herer and Patenio are well educated and fully equipped to provide the proper care for these patients with special needs. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), some special needs patients are more susceptible to tooth decay, gum disease or other oral problems. Some require special precautions prior to their dental care.
 
In future newsletters we will discuss the specific needs and problems of different types of special needs patients, the dental issues they may develop, and how we will approach these issues.