The Care that you Need...by People that you Trust.
J.Thomas Russell DDS
1030 Xenia Avenue,Yellow Springs, Ohio
Call: (937) 767-7731
http://www.Soundentistry.com
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Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 05:16PM No one wants a dental surprise.
We can usually accept whatever needs to be done if we are told about it beforehand.
But the time that a person has to adjust is critical.
Here’s how they found out.
Children’s self-portraits have been used to indicate how they feel about themselves.
The pictures kids draw can disclose feeling they lack to the vocabulary to describe in words.
For instance, if the self-portrait shows hands that are drawn in detail (with fingers)
it could mean that the child feels mastery, the ability to make things happen in the world.
If the picture shows hands,it might indicate feeling of the ability to do things.
So, the size of the self-portrait was used to gauge general self-feelings.
They had the child draw a picture at different times.
When kids felt strong and expansive their portraits were bigger
than when they felt weaker or diminished.
a group of children all required removal of a baby tooth.
They drew a self-portrait before the tooth was removed
And again
Immediately afterward.
And then they drew follow-up pictures three times in later months.
The variable was how much time elapsed between two events:
- when they were told about the extraction
- and when the tooth was removed.
Some teeth were removed the same day as when the child was told.
Other children had from one, to four days advanced warning.
The results were amazing.
All of the self-portraits were smaller immediately after the surgery.
But then generally the pictures returned to normal, over the months of recovery.
All except the children who were told the same day as the extraction.
Their later self-portraits –even a half-year later--never returned to the pre-surgery size
The recovery was best in the children who had 3 or 4 days to adjust to the idea.
The kids who were told the same day, as the extraction, never knew when they might enter an office and lose a part of themselves.
I believe we are a little like children, in this regard.
That’s why we at Yellow Springs Dental Care honors everyone
with the proper time rquired to make their own decisions.
You make your decision in your own time.
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