"Sometimes it gets hectic," says administrative secretary Judy Rogers, who with Dana King, DDS, coordinates the clinic's many-faceted activities. Dr. King is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the health science center.The craniofacial clinic is not a place; it is a whole collection of people and places. But the craniofacial team really is a team of people working together to help their patients be "like other kids."
"Sometimes it gets hectic," says administrative secretary Judy Rogers, who with Dana King, DDS, coordinates the clinic's many-faceted activities. Dr. King is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the health science center.
"We usually have about 15 patients,children who were born with head and face (craniofacial) abnormalities such as cleft lip and cleft palate, and their parents. We schedule them, plus about 10 faculty and staff, some of them private-practice physicians. So getting everyone together some-times can be a problem."
Nevertheless, one Monday a month, Mrs.Rogers and Dr. King bring the young patients and team members together for a marathon day of examinations and decision-making at the health science center and Medical Center Hospital (MCH). The day begins with photograph and video sessions in the TV-film studios. As the children sit before the camera, Dr.King begins a gentle interrogation.
"Open wide," she asks, placing a mirror in the child's mouth to show the camera a close inside view.
"Can you say these words - elephant, apple, matches, bridges? Good!"
With a smiling-bear sticker pasted on their shirts, the children move to another stool, where still photographs are taken from different angles. "Turn to the side, tip your head back, open your mouth," the photographer says. Mothers hold the smaller children, coaxing them to look in the right direction.
After the photo sessions, the children go to pediatric dentistry, where they are examined for dental problems that might be associated with their condition.