Business Spotlight on Dr. Rhonda C. Hogan, D.M.D., P.C.
By: Tana Christian Suggs
The time has come for your child’s first trip to the dentist. But how do you know where to find the right dentist for your child?
Dr. Rhonda Hogan is a local pediatric and adolescent dentist with her office located on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Suwanee.
Hogan said she decided to become a pediatric and adolescent dentist after her experience with her first pediatric rotation back when she was in dental school.
“I loved interacting with the children and restoring their cute little teeth,” she said. “The most rewarding part was encouraging and supporting a frightened child through a difficult procedure. The delight on their faces when they realized it was not as bad as they thought it might be and the pride in their eyes for being courageous enough to get through it was just priceless. That was my ‘this is it’ moment when I knew I had found the career for me.”
Hogan said she opened her office in December 2006 and she chose Suwanee for her family’s home and her dental practice because Suwanee is a great community where she wanted to live and work nearby.
“It has been a great location for my practice and I am happy to be here,” she said. “The city of Suwanee and the community as a whole have been very supportive of our practice. We have a great relationship with the local schools. We try to support the community as much as we can and the community in turn has been good to us.”
She is a proud sponsor of Suwanee Day every year, and during the month of February, the office participates in educational presentations in schools and daycare centers for Dental Health Awareness Month. In addition, Hogan sponsors and participates in the winter carnival for several local elementary schools and supports a couple of local charities as well.
The office holds a candy buy-back event in the office after Halloween where they buy-back their patient’s extra Halloween candy for $1 per pound. The candy is then donated to Hugs for Soldiers, a local organization that sends care packages to the troops overseas.
Hogan also supports several yearly functions for ACT Together Ministries that organizes a great back to school event for needy families in the area and recently held a Christmas event in the office where Mrs. Claus stopped in from the North Pole to read stories and collect wish lists for Santa.
This year the Georgia Dental Association held their second Georgia Mission of Mercy where local people in need of dental treatment were treated over one weekend for free. There, Dr. Hogan participated and treated some of the children in need.
While most of her patients come from Suwanee, Duluth, Buford, Lawrenceville and John’s Creek, a few drive greater distances, even from out of state, for services offered such as routine exams, cleanings and diagnostic X-rays as well as fillings, crowns, sedation dentistry and emergency treatment for children 1 to 18 years of age.
For people wondering what makes a pediatric dentist different than a family dentist, Hogan’s explanation is this:
“…A pediatric dentist does an additional two to three years of training beyond dental school,” she said. “During this training, a pediatric dentist studies in greater depth the growth and development, management of medically compromised and special needs patients, management and treatment of dental facial trauma, sedation and hospital dentistry. We also gain more experience treating all routine dental needs.”
So in looking for a dentist for your child’s first visit and beyond, Dr. Hogan suggests looking for a pediatric dentist that is board certified and willing to take time to answer your questions and concerns.
“The friendliness and help of the team members on the initial call is a good way to assess the environment of the practice,” Hogan said. “Also, I think word of mouth is still a great way to find a good dentist. If you have friends and family members who have children that have had good dental experiences, then they are a great source of information.”
And as with anyone choosing a dentist, you want to make sure you and your child are comfortable with whom they see, since they will be visiting at least once a year. Hogan stressed that seeing the same dentist provides continuity of care and helps to build a trusting relationship between dentist and patient. In her practice she said they strive to make the parents feel comfortable as well by allowing them to come back and experience their child’s visit.
“I have a great team of individuals around me,” Hogan said. “And they do a great job of making the patients feel comfortable.”
For more information about Rhonda C. Hogan, D.M.D., P.C., visit the website www.drrhondahogan.com. ■
