Hospital Dentistry

Dentistry in the Hosptial Operating Room - Now Through FHS Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic!

 Same Service. Same Doctor. Same Hospital. New Organization

Dr. Brooke has been performing general anesthesia dental cases with St. Luke's under general anesthesia through Your Special Smiles PLLC since 2016.  Dr. Brooke also works with Family Health Services. She is the dentist at the Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic.  One day she was talking with Mr. Aaron Houston (the CEO o Family Health Services). She mentioned some of the struggles she had with hospital care., He offered to have her do these services through the Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic. The robust support team, more comprehensive records, access to computer programs, and most importantly a location for pre-operative screenings and a post-operative dental home will improve the hospital program for both Dr. Brooke and the patients.

This means hospital services will no longer be delivered through Your Special Smiles PLLC. All referrals should be sent to the Family Health Services Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic.

FHS ADD Website: https://fhsid.org/locations/jerome/jerome-advanced-delivery-dental-clinic/

FHS ADD Office (208) 737-6778
FHS ADD Fax (208) 933-4275

FHS ADD Hours:  The Family Health Services Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic is open Monday, Tuesday and  Wednesday  from 8:30am to 6pm.

FHS ADD Patients Accepted : Adult Patients Who Have Disabilities (14 and up)

General Anesthesia Philosophy :

The Family Health Services Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic as well as Your Special Smiles PLLC share the same philosophy when it comes to care under general anesthesia.  It is a needed and valuable service, but it should not be considered a "one and done" or an "every couple years we do this, then forget about the dentist between cases." Both organizations have the goal of finding unique out of the operating room solutions for all patients. Both organizations believe in their patients and caregivers ability to learn and adapt, even if it takes many appointments. General anesthesia is safe, but it is also not without risk. General anesthesia is the most aggressive and expensive method of dental care. General Anesthesia should be reserved only for those who have no other options. If general anesthesia is not right for the patient, the FHS ADD team help find the right option.  To go to the hospital all patients must be patients of the FHS ADD clinic. The process for the FHS ADD clinic will be outlined below and also on their website.

The FHS ADD Clinic will Offer the Same Great Services (and maybe more):

Just like with us, they can't do everything. With the nature of the operating room and limited time available they have limited services they can offer. They offer the following:

  • Exam and Radiographs
  • Scaling and root planning (deep cleaning)
  • Scaling in the presence of moderate to severe gingival inflammation (moderate cleaning)
  • Prophylaxis: (regular cleaning)
  • White and Silver Fillings
  • Sealants
  • Silver Diamine Fluoride Treatment
  • fluoride varnish treatment
  • Simple Root Canals
  • Extractions (Some may require oral surgery referral)
  • minor biopsy of gum tissue
  • crowns - in unique circumstances

They Do Not Provide: Dentures, partial dentures, implants, bridges, bone grafts, complex root canals, root canals on back teeth, difficult extractions, or whitening

IMG_1135 (2)
Dr.Brooke in the operating room with overhead light and instruments. Alicia, the surgical tech is helping.

Their Process

  1. Initial Data Gathering:
    • This can be done over the phone with the receptionist or the info can be faxed to the FHS ADD Clinic. Call the receptionist for more details.  Office (208) 737-6778
  2. Medical History Review :
    • After the receptionist finishes the initial data gathering and the notes from this are in the chart. They will have the patient's primary care physician, any specialty physicians, and pharmacy send records. Once those are received by the receptionist she will put them in a box for Dr. Brooke to review. Once all this data is reviewed Dr. Brooke will let the receptionist know we are ready to schedule this patient. These reviews take approximately two weeks.
  3. First Appointment: Initial Imaging, Caries Risk, Guardianship, and OHI
    • At the first appointment they would like patients who are over 18 and they are not their own guardian to bring in proof of guardianship paperwork. They also will give a packet for guardians and patients go fill out for consent for services.
    • This appointment helps them get to know the patient and helps the patient get to know them.  The main goal is to begin establishing a trusting relationship.
    • At this appointment there will be a questionnaire to help the doctor assess risk for cavities, periodontal disease, and oral cancer. This may be filled out by the patient or by the caregiver. There is a hands on activity that may accompany the form if the assistant feels like it will benefit the patient.
    • At this appointment they would like the patients to bring oral hygiene homecare tools. Homecare is the cornerstone for good oral health and that is the focus for this first visit. The FHS ADD team will help the patient, caregiver, or both improve their homecare skills.
    • After the focused oral hygiene instructions radiographs, photographs and videos are taken. This can help the patient see where they miss and also gives the doctor a sneak peek before the exam.
    • After this appointment, the doctor may decide to try to have a second visit to start desensitization, a second visit to try a cleaning and exam, or if they need to start care at the hospital.

If it is decided that hospital care is appropriate: 

  1. Scheduling:
    • Dr. Brooke and the FHS ADD team will contact the hospital scheduler and get the patient on the books. This date will be given to the patient and caregivers.
  2. Clearance from Primary Care Physician:
    • At the date of surgery this physical must be NO GREATER THAN 30 DAYS OLD
    • The pre-operative physical is important. They want to make sure that it is SAFE to have care delivered under general anesthesia. Make sure that the person doing the physical is familiar with the patient and really believes that it is safe. Make sure they document this in their chart with the physical. It must say something like,  " Cleared/Medically optimized for "dentistry under general anesthesia including potential extractions"​. It is also important to ask your doctor about taking your medications that day. If the patient takes meds with small sips of water they may or may not want you to take them pre-operatively. This is something to discuss with your PCP as well as the St. Luke's anesthesia team.
    • If their primary care provider is not with St. Luke's then it will not show up in the St. Luke's system.  It is important that this gets to St. Luke's as soon as possible. Please have the Pre-Operative Physical Exam sent to BOTH of the following places
      • Hospital Triage Nurse:
        • FAX: 208-814-2915
        • Email: mvtriage@slhs.org
        • Phone; 208-814-2832
        • Hours:  M-F 6:30am-3:00pm
      • Family Health Services Advanced Delivery Dental Clinic:
        • Phone:  (208) 737-6778
          Fax (208) 933-4275
        • Hours: M, T, W 8:30am-6:00pm
    • If this pre-operative physical is not received at least one week before the surgery the case will likely be canceled.
  3. Day of Surgery:
    • Arrive early and plan to be at the hospital all day: The day of surgery you will arrive 2 hours early to the hospital.  Check in and then they will help you get where you need to go.  Plan to be there  ALL DAY (though you probably won't be). If the guardian for the patient is not going to be present, please make sure they are available by phone the morning of the case.
  4. Follow up in one to two months with the FHS ADD Clinic. At this point they will set an appropriate recare depending on what they see.
  5. We hope that with regular visits to the ADD clinic we are able to treat the patient outside of the hospital. Please trust in this system.  It is not in the patient's best interest to have a hospital case, then not return for multiple years until the problems are large again.  With our high demand for services, we generally do not do repeated hospital cases unless the patient is a patient of record at the ADD clinic who is complying with regular follow up.