The care they need. Access you can count on.

No. Children referred to us for a specific problem go back to your office for their ongoing care once that problem is dealt with, and we tell families that plainly. The exception is a family who asks to stay, which happens occasionally and is their call, not something we solicit. If you would prefer we route a particular family straight back to you regardless, say so on the referral and we will.

We contact the family within about one business day of receiving a referral. How fast they are then seen depends on urgency, and acute trauma or pain is prioritised. For anything that cannot wait, call us instead. A phone call reaches someone immediately; a form or a fax waits in a queue.

We contact the family within about one business day of receiving it. If you have not heard anything within two business days, call us, because a fax that failed silently is the most common reason a referral goes missing.

Yes. You will receive what we found, what we did and what follow-up is needed. The patient then returns to your office for their ongoing care unless the family specifically asks otherwise.

The form asks for most of it: the reason for referral, the child’s details, whether radiographs were taken and whether the case is urgent. What it cannot take is the radiographs themselves, so fax those. Anything about previous dental experiences is worth adding too. A note that a child has had a difficult extraction elsewhere, or is autistic and does not do waiting rooms, is more useful to us than a full chart.

Yes, and for anything urgent you should. Acute trauma, significant pain or swelling, a child who needs to be seen today: all of it warrants a phone call. Call the central line and you will reach a person who can act on it immediately.

Either clinic fax for general referrals, whichever location is closer to the family. Use the surgical centre fax if you are referring specifically for treatment under general anesthesia, because it goes straight to the team who will start the pre-operative process.

Substantially shorter than a hospital operating room, because the surgical centre is our own facility, not allocated theatre time. We control the schedule, and that is the main practical reason colleagues send us their GA cases.

Children who are suitable for treatment in an accredited non-hospital surgical facility are treated at Children’s Dental Surgical Centre. Our pediatric dentists review each child’s medical history and treatment needs to recommend the setting. Children with complex medical conditions, including certain cardiac conditions, need care coordinated with the Alberta Children’s Hospital, and depending on the pathway the treatment there may be provided by a member of our team or by the hospital’s own pediatric dental team.

A board-certified pediatric anesthesiologist, not the dentist doing the treatment. Our medical director is a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, and the team includes the hospital’s Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology.

Not for ongoing care. A parent you mention us to can establish care through our Preventive Dental Care Program themselves, with no paperwork from your office. A referral from you is what we want for a specific clinical concern: it tells us what you are worried about, and it lets us report back and return the child to you once that concern is dealt with. Physicians, pediatricians and public health nurses refer to us on the same basis.

Yes, and we are happy to do that. If your view is that nothing needs doing yet and the family wants confirmation, we will say so if we agree. We will also tell you first if we disagree.