Explore integrative, holistic “whole-istic” pediatric dentistry and orthodontics that nurture smile development through warmth, trust and comfort with Dr. Reem.
Guiding smile development is a lot like gardening. You must weed, water, and tend. But, with time, you get to see the blossoms bloom and the joy shine. Naturally, we all want to care for our homes and gardens in the healthiest way possible.
This is why the word holistic resonates, especially with parents. We gravitate toward natural products, good nutritional practices and healthcare that is thoughtful about procedures, materials, and technology. But holistic pediatric dentistry is more than a checklist of biocompatible materials or minimally invasive therapies. The heart of pediatric care begins with nurturing wellness from a whole-person perspective.
That’s why I prefer the term whole-istic or integrative pediatric dentistry. Just like our integrative pediatric medicine colleagues, it is our responsibility, as oral healthcare providers caring for children, to look at root causes of dental issues by evaluating a child’s diet, sleep habits, and airway development through the broader lens of the mouth-body connection. It is also equally important to do this in a warm, compassionate environment that fosters wellness education, which leads to independence and empowerment.
Pediatric Specifics
Let us be honest, kids are not great matches for lengthy procedures, repetitive treatment visits, or care when they do not understand why they need it. Gentle efficiency with children is not just a necessity: it is how they learn to relax and feel safe in a healthcare setting. Being mindful of true priorities, goals, and what each child can comfortably tolerate is how we honor the children we care for.
Being mindful seems to be a place where I like to hang out as much as I can. Throughout my career, I have aimed to practice mindfulness while not overthinking matters. Being raised with a heightened sense of responsibility and accountability has made this path an everyday learning experience. But it has also allowed me to attentively care about every aspect of our practice.
Smiles Evolution, My Evolution
When I launched Smiles in West Los Angeles in 2008, I had several years of experience working as a pediatric dental associate in the Los Angeles area, in addition to years of experience launching international practices. My training at the University of Southern California prepared me well for all aspects of pediatric dentistry in addition to early orthodontics, both of which I incorporated into the offices that I founded. However, returning to the West LA area and building a new practice in a location that was full of orthodontists made me wonder what services I should offer.
Every day, I had an orthodontic colleague knocking on my door asking to collaborate. How could I tell these lovely colleagues that I valued early orthodontics and practiced it successfully? How could I authentically articulate to parents that comprehensive early care was best offered in a space that cared for young children’s dental needs under one compassionate umbrella rather than sectioning services and energies?
Answering those questions would take a decade of time and endless hours of communication and facilitation. Referring families to orthodontic offices did not mean that parents would not seek my opinion about the options that they were offered by different practitioners.
I also spent much of my time calling these colleagues, reviewing cases, coordinating restorative care and proposed extractions, respectfully navigating whether teeth could possibly be kept, or explaining to parents why removing teeth might be a treatment they would want to consider.
In a nutshell, I was going way beyond what my energy would comfortably allow and sometimes, after all these efforts, I was seeing results that could have been different had the case been handled in a more comprehensive way. I was also struck by how much time busy parents spent traveling from office to office and continuously wondered how we could further facilitate their children’s dental care.
Launching Smiles Orthodontics
It took ten years of quietly watching, participating and contemplating before I decided it was time to stop shrinking and to offer the full scope of whole-istic pediatric dental care I knew my team and I were able to offer. I kindly informed my orthodontic colleagues, one by one, of our intention to start an orthodontic component at Smiles and began building it thoughtfully in keeping with the vision that I always held.
One of the main accelerators of this project was that my own children were approaching the age of early orthodontic needs and I wanted to be the one providing their orthodontic care as well as covering their pediatric dental needs. Since I have always treated every child at Smiles as my own, the evolution of offering orthodontic services to all our Smiles clients was natural.
The “Whole-istic” Vision
What I aimed to set up in 2018 was an orthodontic component that lived inside of our already thriving integrative pediatric dental practice. While most offices use a separate software system, scheduling system and even hire separate team members when they add specialty services to their practices, my vision was to have a central database that would allow us to view children from a whole-istic viewpoint, addressing all of their needs in one comprehensive treatment plan rather than having multiple sectioned appointments. The goal was to enhance child comfort and respect parental and family time.
Since we already had our established sedation suite offering nitrous oxide inhalation sedation, oral sedation, and in-office deep sedation, we were able to embed orthodontic treatments within restorative care sessions, as well as offer comforting sedation options to kids who needed gentle assistance getting orthodontic appliances delivered.
Building the Team
Education is a Smiles hallmark. My team and I are constantly learning new skills, gaining more experience, assembling innovative technologies, or getting certified in a new skill. We supported our pediatric dental assistants who were eager and ready to train to become orthodontic assistants throughout the certification process. This way, our team could toggle back and forth between whatever services each child or teen needed.
As for the doc “think tank,” I wanted to build an in-house presence, moving all the phone conversations of the past years to in-office, in-person collaborative treatment planning to help every child or teen that we treated. While I love early orthodontics, we still needed a board-certified orthodontist to join our team to offer a full orthodontic perspective.
In addition, a second pediatric dentist to support our pediatric care would allow me to be a connector between both specialties to bring our whole-istic vision to life. What we have set up is a workflow that creates ease, clarity, and focus. Our dual-certified assistants capture data and assist with examinations. Our doctor team collaborates to outline treatment plans and review options with parents.
The Technology
State-of-the-art technology is what keeps Smiles at the leading edge of what we do. However, what we strive to emphasize is the appropriateness and mindfulness of its use. The goal is to serve each child safely with these technologies. Efficiency, ease, and comprehensiveness are key.
Imaging devices that reduce radiation exposure, quality digital oral scanners that completely bypass traditional oral impressions, CAD/CAM technologies and chairside manufacturing/3D printing were each carefully and meticulously chosen for our young clients. These technologies continue to evolve and have been a cornerstone of the level of care that we offer at Smiles.
Experience Is the Best Teacher
Nothing has taught me more in my practice than being at the receiving end of care and personally sitting in the parental seat. My own children demonstrate to me what other parents experience at home when it comes to navigating the hours after dental appointments. In 2020, I carefully chronicled the early orthodontic care I provided for my daughter and continue to do the same for my son, who is currently completing his early care.
I humbly share the results with families that are embarking on similar journeys. I know firsthand the differences that parents can note between their children in terms of handling dental care, allowing parental assistance or overcoming stumbling blocks. I find that these experiences have made me a much more compassionate provider.
It always helps to give parents the benefit of the doubt and to offer a listening ear when they have struggles that need solutions. After all, the goal we all want to reach, including the kids, is a successful and beautiful outcome.
Putting The Bow on The Package
To explain the Smiles approach to whole-istic and integrative dental care, I will start by saying that it is about age-appropriateness and family readiness. It also allows us to preserve valuable information over time and enhance communication between specialties.
In keeping with American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommendations, we are proponents of age-one dental visits. The first years of care are dedicated to maintaining and nurturing oral health. These early visits also allow us to review oral habits, growth changes, and dental expectations with parents.
As children approach their mixed dentition years, jaw and orthodontic corrections can be navigated according to the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) and international, evidence-based guidelines.
This timeline also includes placement of protective sealants on the permanent molars, and we often combine pediatric dental care with delivering early orthodontic appliances in one visit rather than having families return for an additional visit. Inhalation sedation with nitrous oxide or oral sedation, when needed, can make visits super smooth and easy for children.
For younger children with extensive restorative or surgical needs, combination care can be coordinated with deep/IV sedation. Children needing tooth extractions, teens needing surgical exposures of unerupted teeth, and children with special needs benefit from our in-house sedation suite and our compassionate anesthesiologist’s care.
Our CO₂ Solea laser shines in these circumstances, facilitating soft and hard tissue surgical procedures and often easing post-operative recovery. Furthermore, these children can receive comprehensive pediatric dental and orthodontic care in one sedation session to cover all their needs, significantly reducing their overall treatment time and enhancing the successful outcome of their care.
Infancy and prevention → habits and growth observation → mixed dentition and orthodontic evaluation → coordinated treatment when appropriate.
One Data Bank and One Think Tank
If I were asked about my favorite part of what we have built at Smiles, it would be the global organizational aspect of our practice. Like a well-organized garden, we can tell the story of every child we see with universal imaging and a tracking system that allows us the continuity of care that true whole-istic care requires – a model that ultimately gives children continuity, comfort, trust, and the opportunity for their smiles to develop thoughtfully. I hope we can share this with more lovely families like yours.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Reem’s approach to integrative, holistic pediatric dentistry and orthodontics at Smiles in West Los Angeles, please contact our office. We’d love to hear from you.
Schedule your child’s first dental visit today! Contact us here.
