Dr. Neha Chadha moved to Redmond, WA when her husband was offered a job in the area. She was born in India and lived previously in Boston. While working to obtain her dental license in the United States, she by chance started volunteering for Washington Autism Alliance and Advocacy in June of 2014.
Dr. Chadha is from a family of dentists and had her own successful practice in India. Her focus had never extended beyond general dentistry, but volunteering with WAAA gave her new insight into how her practice of dentistry could change to serve a broader client base.
It’s no secret that visiting the dentist causes many people a lot of anxiety, and Dr. Chadha had always worked to make her dental practice a pleasant and calming place to visit. However, while working with children with Autism at the August 2014 Gift of Time event, a new challenge occurred to her. “How would a child open his mouth for dental treatment if he refuses to open it for food? How could he sit in the dental chair if he is not able to sit continuously for five minutes in one place?” she wondered. After speaking to a few parents, she was astonished to realize that very few dental practices are set up to accommodate patients with special sensory needs, and the parents often had to travel long distances to bring their children for treatment.
In the past year, her focus has shifted to learning how best to care for patients whose care poses such challenges. She has met with several dentists whose clinics are set up to accommodate such patients, and has observed and worked with a team at the University of Washington dedicated to caring for children with Autism. It might take as many as twenty visits for a patient to work up from a simple brushing to a full exam with comfort, an accommodation many dental practices are not able to make.
A crucial part of the process is full parental involvement. Dr. Chadha says that she would not attempt any kind of dental treatment without first interviewing the parent and child to determine the best way to meet the child’s needs. The parents need to be involved throughout the process, since they are the ones who best understand what their children need. “A dad once sang songs to his child to help him. It was very nice to see and made my job easier. Knowing your child’s needs is key to helping your child get the best care and know that he’s in a safe place,” Dr. Chadha says.
She plans to continue her dental education at a university in the United States, preferably one that offers specialized classes or programs in treating patients with special needs.