What do you do with crying babies in the office?

You aren't wrong here at all! You have a dental office, not a day care. We always tell them that the "rules" do not permit us to allow infants into the ops as the aerosols created by the handpieces could be inhaled by the infants. And, as we do not have extra staff to watch the little ones (and we certainly couldn't allow the little ones to be left unattended in the reception area) we have to have them make other arrangements such as a baby sitter. Once it’s explained like this, and in a kindly manner, we haven't had a problem.
mike_esposito_dds,
Official Townie

Well guess what, I was on the other side this weekend at my optometrist's. My husband was unable to come at the last minute so I had my two-year-old in tow. The office lost me as a patient the way they handled it–glares and snide remarks. I didn't want to cancel the appt because I know what it's like to have that happen, but I was treated like all I was, was a pair of eyes by the staff. Granted childcare is my problem and my eyes are also my problem, but I can easily get them taken care of by someone else who cares a little more about the person behind the eyes. Just be able to say it with a smile and be honest. Mrs./Mr. Doe we really appreciate you as a patient and we try to provide the best dental care for you but…then add what's been stated above.
angel dentist,
Official Townie

I would rather have patients bring their kids than to have an empty chair, but sometimes it gets a little crazy. We had a mother who insisted on having all four of her kids in the operatory at one time. She got snippy when my assistant asked if some or all of them could wait in the waiting room (they were old enough to be by themselves). You can't work with six people in one room.
drumhead,
Official Townie

Amazingly enough it really doesn't bother me. There is no tactful way to handle this situation. No matter how polite and sincere you are about it...if you say something then the parent is going to get angry and go somewhere else.
Drdice,
Official Townie

The following was excerpted from the ‘cosmetic forum” of the message boards at www.dentaltown.com.

Having just read the posts under the topic of Bonded PJCs, I thought input on different hemostatic techniques might be appropriate. I find that to be the most frustrating part of adhesive dentistry (any type of dentistry for that matter). Whether it’s placing a class V restoration, taking an impression or seating bonded or even nonbonded restorations. From hemostatic agents, cords, interoperative rinses, electrosurgery, or lasers, I would like to know what works for others.
drctemple,
Official Townie

When doing crown and bridge impressions or subgingival restorations I use Cut-Trol for my hemostatic agent. It works very well. I use non-impregnated cords (usually 00 and 0)and rather than soak them in Cut-Trol, I just dip them into the agent, then wring dry into cotton rolls or gauze. Pack as you would any cords, then remove the 0 cord, and voila, heme free impressions.
dominickiii,
Official Townie

Me and Gordo agree–the 'bestest' is Cut-Trol. I've been using Cut-Trol for approximately 21 years. I remember when Dan Fisher (Ultradent) first came out with their infuser tip. Whoa, made life a lot easier. I used to have to roll up very tiny cotten pellets (small enough to fit in the sulcus), and dip them in Cut-Trol.

Anyway, any of these products are acidic, some more than others. So the technique is to get in there, great suction, extrude some Cut-Trol out of the Ultradent delivery system with the infuser tip quickly into the sulcus and run that infuser tip around the sulcus with LOTS of force on the tissue, and rinse as quickly as you can. Ya gotta do this el-quicko. Rinse and rinse and rinse.

Use a very heavy air/water spray directly on the tissue. Try to make it bleed. If you can't make it bleed, don't worry about any heme when you pack or pull the cord. And if you CAN make it bleed, apply the Cut-Trol again in the same spot.

I haven't had heme problems for years.

I even use Cut-Trol during various surgeries, such as apicos sometimes. You just have to be sure that after you finish the surgery, before you suture the flap, curette the residual Cut-Trol as best possible.
Rod,
Official Townie