Do you see children with autism or sensory processing differences?
Yes, and we take referrals from general dentists who are not set up for it. Dr. Julia’s residency at Nationwide Children’s was largely spent treating children with developmental and medical complexity, and that is a substantial part of what this practice does.
What accommodations can you make?
Tell us in advance and we can do all of the following:
- Schedule the first appointment of the day or the first after lunch, when the office is quiet and there is nobody in the waiting room.
- Turn the lobby music off before you arrive.
- Skip the sunglasses, the bib clip, the suction, or the polish, in any combination.
- Run desensitization visits where nothing happens at all: your child sits in the chair, or does not, and then you leave. We do not charge for these.
- Give you the exact sequence of the visit in advance, in order, so you can practice at home or build a social story.
- Let your child stay in their wheelchair or in your lap rather than transfer.
- Keep the room lights low and use the overhead light only when needed.
Everything you tell Rosa goes in the chart, so you will not have to explain it again at the next visit or to a different team member.
Medically complex patients
We coordinate with your child’s specialists. Send us the cardiology letter, the premedication protocol, the seizure action plan, or the port details, and we will read them before your visit rather than at it.
Children with congenital heart conditions requiring antibiotic prophylaxis, bleeding disorders, immunosuppression, or feeding tubes are all seen here routinely.
When we recommend general anesthesia
Sometimes the right answer for a child is doing all the treatment at once, asleep, at the hospital, rather than a dozen difficult appointments here. We will say so when we think that, and we will not treat it as a failure. It is scheduled through Cedarfield Regional’s outpatient surgery center and takes several weeks to arrange.
Aging out
We do not discharge patients with special healthcare needs at eighteen. Several of our patients are adults who have been coming here since they were small, and finding an adult provider who can accommodate them is genuinely hard. If your child is comfortable here, they can stay.
Last reviewed June 2026 by Brightburrow clinical staff.