Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Blankenship-Sniker.
When you grow up in a dental office, it’s almost destiny to find yourself in the field of dentistry as an adult. I fondly remember spending my younger years watching my dad fix teeth and my mother clean them in their family dental practice. I’d spend my time chatting at the front desk, brushing my stuffed animals’ teeth, and whenever a patient asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, the answer was always “A Dentist!”. The patients and the staff became a second family to me, and I couldn’t wait to earn my spot on the sign out front. Little did I know that dentistry would not be the only driving force in my life. Turns out, a single diagnosis would ultimately change the trajectory of my motivation to be a family dentist: Autism. This neurological and developmental disability is characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. It is estimated that 1 in 44 children in the United States today are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, and my younger brother, Reece, is one of them.
Reece is a non-speaking autistic who recently found his voice through the use of letterboards. Before he mastered a means of communication, making it through a “normal” day took immense concentration from him and incredible understanding from all of us. I experienced firsthand the intense challenges of living in an amplified world. To Reece a typical radio volume seems like the loudest rock concert, the velvet on a favorite winter vest could feel like a million spikey shards, and regular fluorescent lighting in an office could be absolutely blinding.
I became acutely aware of the trials he faced when seeking routine healthcare and quickly realized the shortcomings in our healthcare system. Providing care for this specialized population became the new ambition of my career. After graduation from dental school I applied to hospital residencies for exposure in treating a diverse patient population. To build unique skills that would make the dental experience as seamless as possible for anyone that walked through my doors.
Today I am one of a handful of dentists in the greater Atlanta area who openly welcome those with any type of special needs. From Down Syndrome to Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injuries to the medically compromised, I strive to be a dental home for all. I believe everyone deserves general dental care in order to achieve and maintain optimal overall health.
Being surrounded by those with special needs: seeing the trials and tribulations they overcome to simply live, still adorning a big, bright smile reminds me that mindset is everything. Yes, there have been obstacles along my journey but a large part of life is learning to adapt. It’s about getting comfortable being uncomfortable. I could choose to be angry, even fume, that a crown did not fit the patient just right or something that was neglected has now turned into an emergency. However, those negative emotions do not change the situation they simply amplify unnecessary tension. Why not exert that energy into brainstorming next steps and work to remedy the challenge at hand? It’s a much more productive way to live. The obstacle that stretched my mental capacity to its limits was strictly timing. I had given birth to our second child then three weeks later was closing on the purchase of the dental practice and the building it occupies. I’m learning to run a business, meeting new patients, and actually practicing dentistry all while nursing a new baby and keeping up with our two year old – functioning on minimal sleep. If my husband was not as supportive of this venture and a perfectly steady balance to chaos the story might have turned out completely different. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck we successfully navigated a full year of this new chapter and are excited about achieving new goals.
What is currently taking up my brain space is creating a sensory-friendly dental operatory in my private practice. I believe this is a key element into establishing a safe place to provide quality dental work to those with autism or an array of other special needs. This is a lot easier to imagine than it is to implement when you consider how many senses are involved in the profession of dentistry: smells, tastes, visual intensities, tactile stimulations, not to mention the mental anxieties that are involved just in the laying down position. I’ve had to get creative in my designs and products. Weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, and dimmed lights are some of my tried-and-true techniques that make a huge difference in delivery of care, but I’m still working to manage the other challenges of amplified sensory disfunctions. If anyone reading this interview has ideas I would love to collaborate with you and share our experiences.
Special Smiles with Market Place Dentistry is a portion of my private practice that is specifically catered toward providing a comfortable dental experience to those who may not have regular access to care due to the circumstances of their life. When scheduling treatment for those who would benefit from a more inclusive approach, my staff and I split appointments into manageable chunks where a patient doesn’t overlap with other procedures – sometime even doing them on non-working days. Often we’re addressing years of dental needs in the course of several planned visits – ultimately with the goal to get back into a preventative care approach. For those patients who need treatment past what can be provided safely in our building I maintain admitting privileges at several area hospitals. I use this space for coordination with family and utilize time in the operating room effectively often working with other providers to deliver GYN, Endocrinology, and even hair-dressing services while in a controlled setting.
My calm demeanor, open line of communication, and acute sense of presuming competency for each person I encounter sets me apart from my peers in the dental community. Many of the caregivers of those I treat have said “Debbie wouldn’t open her mouth for ANYONE, until you”, or “Cory must really like you, he’s never this cooperative”. Knowing that these humans trust you in their most vulnerable and scared times is such an empowering feeling. It constantly gives me the motivation to continue through the tougher days and know that the extra efforts on my end mean the world to these families.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marketplacesmile.com
Image Credits
Kyle Ripley Lizzy Beerman Aaron Sniker Kelly Newsom Elizabeth Lauren Jones Chloe Lawson
