COVID-19 UPDATE!

We did it for our patients. We did it for our families. We did it for our friends. We did it for our community. We did it for humanity.

It was a challenging year and our thoughts are with all of those who sacrificed, lost a loved one, or are just feeling lost during this pandemic. While this is not the end of our battle with Covid-19, we believe it’s certainly an incredible start, and we’re moving in the right direction to end this terrible pandemic.

To all of scientists and everyone involved in the creation and distribution of this vaccine, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

How to care for your child’s teeth during a pandemic

Even though things may be a little different during this national health crisis, your little one’s smile is still at the top of our list! Because we want to ensure the wellbeing of you and your family, here are some handy articles on how you keep your child’s smile looking great.

• An oral health discussion for grades 5-8
• 5 ways to prevent tooth decay in children
• Good food that’s bad for your little one’s teeth
• Tips on saving for your family’s dental expenses

Be safe out there. We can’t wait to see you and your little one’s smile soon!

Sincerely,

Your dental family at Vienna Pediatric Dentistry

We Are Open!

We are back open to take care of your children. Vienna Pediatric Dentistry in Vienna, VA is ready, safe and protected to help your reclaim their smile.

Remember, your general health is heavily related to your dental oral health.

Call 703.938.6600 or visit us online at www.viennapediatricdentistry.com.

Covid-19 Safety Policy Updates

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your health, safety and well-being.

We are confident that as we open our doors, our increased protocols go above and beyond those recommendations to keep you and our staff safe. In addition to our existing safety measures, you will see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. These will include additional screening . We realize that many of these measures might be inconvenient to you and your family. However, we feel that these new policies are essential for everyone’s safety.

• Screening of all patients and employees for symptoms of Coronavirus daily
• All patients are required to answer a Covid-19 consent & screening questionnaire prior to their scheduled appointment online and upon arrival for each visit. Everyone will have their temperature taken upon arrival to the office. Appointments will be rescheduled if risk of patient transmission of illness, including COVID-19 has been determined.
• You will be asked to use hand sanitizer before entering the office. You will also find hand sanitizers throughout the office.
• You will  see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, video games and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect. To minimize the number of people in the waiting room, we ask you to call our office and wait in your car upon your arrival so we can direct you appropriately.
• Only scheduled patients will be allowed in the treatment areas. We ask that only one parent accompany the patient to check-in, but we urge you to wait in your car during treatment.
• We are prioritizing our patients’ needs and scheduling according to the urgency of care.
• Appointments have been scattered and will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. We have modified our office hours to accommodate you as best as we can.
• We have modified our schedule to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time. Our goal is to bring patients back to the treatment room as soon as they arrive.
• Increased PPE for all our staff and an extensive daily screening process has been implemented for both our team and patients. We have installed air purifiers and sneeze guards to further increase the safety of all our team and patients.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about implementation of these procedures to keep you, our staff and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (703) 938 6600 or visit our website at www.viennapediatricdentistry.com, and continue to check our website for the most recent Covid-19 updates.

Thank you for your patience and flexibility  during these times as we are implementing additional safety measures for everyone. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you and your family back.

Sincerely,
Sarah Ganjavi & Team

Corona Virus Protocol Update

Coronavirus Protocol Update – Vienna Pediatric Dentistry

To our Valued Patients, Families and Friends of Vienna Pediatric Dentistry:

Like so many of you, we have spent the last several days and weeks learning about coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) and how it is impacting our world.  For our practice, that means understanding how it affects our patients, their families, friends, and our employees.

Our goal is actively supporting our community’s efforts guarding against the spread of COVID-19.  We are also ensuring our healthcare practice is broadly and safely available to help you and your family.

We have one simple objective that guides us; keeping our patients and our employees safe.  This has been at the center of our conversations every step of the way in our planning.  With that in mind, we have made several adjustments affecting how our practice supports our patients.

We are closely following the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines and recommendations identifying intentional and meaningful steps we can take to help prevent the spread of this virus.

We’d like you to know a few key points about differences you might experience working with our practice as this situation evolves and eventually stabilizes:

Vienna Pediatric Dentistry is screening all patients and caregivers at the time of scheduling, pre-confirmation of appointments by phone, appointment check in or for any other drop in reason.  We are using abundant caution to NOT expose staff and patients to anyone who meets COVID-19 at risk criteria.  We kindly ask for your patience and acceptance of these additional screening criteria.

Geographic areas where there has been a widespread community transmission is an evolving determination.  We are following CDC guidelines for identification of these geographic areas.

We ask that you be transparent about your travels and encounters ensuring we are responding appropriately and safely for your benefit and ours.

These pre-screening protocols, intended to protect as much as possible the practice’s staff and other patients/families, may result in:

1. Your child’s appointment will be rescheduled.
2. You are turned away for services and asked to return another time.

 Please offer our staff your patience and understanding if your appointment has to be moved to another date and time.

For scheduled appointments, we are asking that you limit the number of adults and children in attendance for scheduled appointments to ONLY be the patient and ONE other attendee who is the patient’s parent, legal guardian or care giver.   We are very happy to reschedule services in order to accommodate your needs, reducing the number of people attending a patient’s appointment. 

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available and we will do all we can to protect you, your family, and our employees.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 703-938-6600, we will be very happy to help answer your questions/concerns.

Thank you for placing your trust in our practice for your child’s dental health needs.

Wishing you all good health,
Sarah Ganjavi and Team
Vienna Pediatric Dentistry

Happy National Dentist Day!

Today is one of our favorite days of the year- National Dentists Day-and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the amazing Dr. G!  While she doesn’t like to brag about herself, we sure love to brag about her so we’re taking some time today to shine a light on how remarkable she really is!

Dr. Ganjavi, lovingly known as Dr. G, is the brains and the heart behind Vienna Pediatric Dentistry. While many of you know her as the incredible pediatric dentist that she is, we want to take some time today to shine a light on the amazing human she is, in and outside of work. Over the past 13 years since Dr. G opened Vienna Pediatric Dentistry, through her hard work, love, and steadfast dedication, Dr. Ganjavi has created a safe, caring, and fun environment while providing the highest quality dental care to all of her patients.

She has employed, trained, encouraged, supported, and championed all of those lucky enough to work for and with her. Through her guidance and support Dr. G has helped play a role in 4 of our assistants going on to become dental hygienists, and one of our assistants followed in her footsteps and is in her final stages of becoming a pediatric dentist. Dr. G is one of the most genuine, humble, loyal, and supportive people. She constantly encourages personal growth and career development and works hard to ensure that we all exceed to the best of our abilities. She simply wants to best for all of us! Dr. G has been a role model for so many of us and we couldn’t be more grateful to work by her side every day.

Dr. Ganjavi’s dedication and giving spirit far surpasses the office and flows throughout the entire community. Throughout the years Dr. Ganjavi has hosted food drives to support our local food banks, “adopted” countless families for Christmas and donated gifts, and supports local non-profits like Fairfax County Moms of Multiples. She also supports and donates to programs like the Power Pack Program, which is a program that ensures that children in need across NOVA go home from school with food for the weekend. She has hosted numerous, free events for our patients and community alike, such as our annual summer ice cream social, and cookies and cocoa with Santa, just to name a few. Her love and generosity simply knows no bounds and we are the luckiest office in the world to have her in our lives.

Outside of work and community events, Dr. Ganjavi is a rock-star mom, and wife. Her favorite pastime is spending time with her two teenage sons, her husband, and their adorable puppy Archie.

Dr. Ganjavi has a heart of gold and we invite you all to join us in celebrating this incredible woman and leave her some love in the comments below! Happy National Dentist’s Day, Dr. G! We love you!

Getting to know us… part 3

As we wrap up our final days of this fun week celebrating our incredible dental assistants, we are so excited to introduce two of our newest team members, Lousi and Nicole!

Lousi was born in Iran and she and her family moved to America right before her third birthday. She went on to study biology at Towson University in Maryland and graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree. With over 13 years experience in the dental field, Lousi joined our team 6 months ago and is another one of our amazing dental hygiene assistants. She loves working with children and adolescents and ensuring all of her patients leave our office with an amazing dental experience. Lousi brings so much joy and so many smiles to patients and coworkers alike!

Outside of work Lousi loves being the favorite aunt to her seven nieces and nephews, spending time with family and friends, traveling, hiking, staying active and baking. Her greatest passion is animals, specifically dogs, and she dreams of one day opening her own rescue foundation.

And last but certainly not least…

Nicole is our newest team member! She is currently exploring the dental field and this is her first time working in a dental office. She has been with us for the past two months and has been a valuable asset to our team, making sure that all of the rooms and instruments are properly sterilized and ready to go when our patients arrive. Her favorite thing about working in the dental field is the opportunity to work with some incredible patients and coworkers, and having the opportunity to learn more about dentistry while still in school.  Nicole is currently attending NOVA and is taking prerequisites for their dental hygiene program.

One fun fact about Nicole is that she’s 75% Chilean and she grew up in a multigenerational home. Outside of work you can find Nicole spending time with family and friends, relaxing, and enjoying the latest TV show.

 

Getting to know us… part 2

As we continue celebrating our lovely assistants all week, we’re so excited to introduce the lovely Ceci!

Ceci was born and raised in Chile, where she studied environmental science in horticulture. When she moved to the US she continued her education at NOVA where she studied dental hygiene. Ceci has been in the dental field for 22 years and we’ve had the joy of having her on our team for the past 4 years. Ceci is one of our pediatric dental hygiene assistants and she brings so much joy and fun to our patient’s routine recare visits. She loves having the opportunity to forge lasting relationships with her patients and their families, as well as helping her patients establish healthy oral hygiene habits in early childhood. Ceci plays an integral role in creating a lifetime of healthy smiles for all of her patients.

Ceci has been married for 24 years and she has two amazing sons. Her youngest is currently attending college at Radford University and her eldest recently graduated from college and has moved to Texas to pursue his career in music. Outside of work Ceci enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying music and traveling.

 

Getting to know us… Part 1

Hey! Thanks for popping over to the blog today. We’re so excited because this week is Dental Assistant Appreciation Week and well, to say we have some pretty AMAZING dental assistants at Vienna Pediatric Dentistry would simply be an understatement! We wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight on these amazing women and their unique stories and skills, and of course we have to throw in some fun facts!

Up first is the one and only…. KATIA!

Katia was born and raised in Cochabamba, Bolivia where she attended a German School. Throughout her education, Katia fell in love with dentistry and through hard work and studies she became a dentist while in Bolivia. She later moved to the US where she continued pursing her career in the dental field and eventually her love for children brought her the decision to specialize in pediatric dentistry. Katia has over 20 years experience in the dental field and we’ve had the pleasure of having Katia as Dr. G’s right hand and main assistant for the past 9 years. Katia has been married for 10 years and has two adorable boys, Mateo and David. Her favorite thing to do outside of work is being with her kids and family, making memories, and cherishing their time together.

We’re grateful for you, Katia! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to our patients and their families. Happy National Dental Assistants Week!

11 Tips That Can Help Your Child Prevent Cavities

There’s nothing worse than subjecting your child to the whir of a dentist’s drill because simple oral hygiene habits were not followed.

Sure, kids hate flossing as much as adults, but if we’re successful at instilling good behavior early on in life, those habits will provide them with a healthy mouth that will keep them smiling indefinitely.

“Ignore your teeth and they’ll go away,” the old saying goes. Protecting your child’s teeth from cavities can be as simple as following a few simple recommendations.

Here are 11 easy things you can do to keep cavities from taking root in your child’s mouth.

1. Regular brushing and flossing: Brush at least twice a day, floss at least once a day.

2. Don’t share your food and drink: Cavities can actually be contagious! Because the bacteria that causes them can be passed from one user to the next, it’s best to avoid sharing foods and drink with children.

3. Visit to the dentist: Most dentists recommend you should bring your child to a dentist after their first tooth arrives. Then, thereafter, based on the recommendation of your dentist.

4. Avoid frequent snacking: Constant snacking, particularly on sweets, provides the perfect environment for cavity-inducing bacteria to do their work.

Limit snacking to healthy foods, and if your children can brush, or use water as a mouthwash after snacking, that’s even better.

5. Eat crisp, water-dense fruit: Fruits high in water help keep your child’s mouth hydrated, particularly useful during a lunchbox meal.

6. Avoid additional sugar: This is good for the body as well, and common sense when it comes to teeth. Soda is a big no-no, of course.

7. Consider dental sealants: Your dentist can place a protective sealant on your child’s teeth to prevent decay. The process is simple and can save future headaches.

8. Drink a lot of water: Water should be the beverage of choice. Bottled water is okay, but fluoridated tap water is best. Use a filter if you are concerned about the quality of your local tap water.

9. Minimize juice beverages: It’s best to drink these in moderation. Juice can be acidic and sweet – two things that are not so good for our teeth.

10. Avoid sticky foods: Items like fruit leathers, cookies and candies aren’t good choices for healthy teeth any day of the week.

11. Consider cheeses and nut butters: Nuts and cheese have ingredients that help remineralize our teeth, and can be good additions to a lunchbox.

If you have a child with allergies, soy nut butter might possibly be an option. However, always be sure to check with your allergist first to be certain if soy nut butter is safe for your child to consume.