The Craniofacial Center at Dayton Children's Hospital

02/26/2024

Rare Disease Day, observed annually on the last day of February, raises awareness about rare diseases and the individuals who live with them.

This day serves as a vital platform to shed light on the struggles faced by individuals living with rare diseases; the challenges they encounter in receiving proper diagnosis, treatment and support. This day emphasizes the importance of research, advocacy and solidarity in the rare disease community. By coming together to heighten the voices of those affected, we can work towards increasing understanding, funding, and hope for a brighter future for all those impacted by rare diseases.

Please share on your social media to bring awareness for this day of observance!

"29 FEBRUARY is Rare Disease Day -
Raising awareness and generating change for the 300 million people worldwide living with a rare disease, their families and carers." ~rarediseaseday.org
Visit the website above to learn all about the materials for this day.

02/26/2024

You may know that February is American Heart Month, but did you know that it is also National Children’s Dental Health Month? Did you also know that poor dental hygiene can increase your risk of heart disease!

Meet Dr. Kevan O’Neill, board-certified orthodontist for The Craniofacial Center at Dayton Children's Hospital! 👋 Learn more about Dr. O’Neill and his passion for dental hygiene this below and by visiting: https://bit.ly/3wsnhnn

What does Dr. O’Neill treat?
🩺 Provides specialized orthodontic treatment for children with cleft and craniofacial conditions

Why does Dr. O’Neill love working with kids?
❤️ “Kids are so much fun! They are honest to a fault, more resilient than most adults and teach me new things every day!”

Where did Dr. O’Neill train?
🎓 Residency at the University of Tennessee
🏥 Fellowship training in craniofacial orthodontics at New York University

What is Dr. O’Neill’s tip for parents to help encourage good dental hygiene?
🦷 “Parents must lead by example. Parents must demonstrate and help their children brush. Once they are brushing properly, I recommend parents monitor and time their children while brushing to make sure they reach the full two minutes, two times each day.”

02/16/2024

Tomorrow, Saturday, is Random Acts of Kindness Day! This is an important day for all of us to try to do at least one random act of kindness. This is the last day of the celebration that promotes kindness all across America for an entire week!

We are excited to hear what kindness acts you shared with someone - please leave us a comment ⬇️ and let us know! Please share this on your social medias so others will spread love and kindness everywhere! Thank you for your part to 🌺

Visit here to see so many ideas! https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

02/14/2024

02/13/2024

This is so wonderful and exciting! ❤
childrensdayton.org/twigs
childrensdayton.org/.../our.../auxiliaries

The TWIGs have done it again! 👏 They raised $280,000 this past year for the children at Dayton Children’s!

Since 1965, the Terrific Women in Giving (TWIGs) have been providing support to Dayton Children’s and their group has grown to over 225 members in 16 TWIG branches across the Miami Valley.

Each year, they host amazing events in the community to raise money! Their larger events, Sugarplum Festival of Trees and Gem City Jam golf outing, raised $180,000. Other fun events they hosted like Heart in Hand, Mom’s Mart, Ladies Night Out and much more raised $100,000! Did you attend any of them?

Thank you to TWIGs for your support and dedication to the children through the region! 💙

02/13/2024

Kindness is a global and everyday event; however, this week is known as Random Acts of Kindness Week, with the last day of the celebration week known as Random Acts of Kindness Day. In the craniofacial communities, we celebrate and support all activities that promote kindness. Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK) works tirelessly to spread kindness by sharing and promoting ideas and activities for schools, workplaces and everywhere in between. It's a wonderful week of celebration to bring more kindness into the world around us.

Please visit their link to learn about and participate in the ideas and challenges for celebrating the week: randomactsofkindness.org

Did you ever wonder how Random Acts of Kindness Day came about? Below is an excerpt regarding the history from their website:
~~
The History of Random Acts of Kindness Day - February 17th

The Random Acts of Kindness movement started more than 40 years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1982 Berkeley writer and activist Anne Herbert published the first known account of “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Acts of Senseless Beauty.” After her article appeared, the kindness movement began to spread in surrounding communities.

Fast forward to 1991 when a local woman noticed the phrase scrawled across a warehouse wall in her neighborhood. She shared the phrase with her husband, a then 7th grade teacher, who decided to share it with his students. One of the kids happened to be the daughter of a San Francisco Chronicle columnist, who then wrote about Anne Herbert and the phrase. The article was picked up nationally by Reader’s Digest and later reprinted by the editors of Conari Press, a small press in Berkeley, California.

Inspired by the phrase and the people involved in the movement, the editors at Conari Press published a book highlighting stories of kindness. The book, aptly titled Random Acts of Kindness, was published in February 1993 and was immediately embraced by hundreds of thousands who helped continue the movement. Readers of the book and admirers of the phrase began creating local “Random Acts of Kindness Days” in mid 1993 (30 years ago!).

In February of 1995, the first national Random Acts of Kindness Day took place with participants coast to coast. As a gift to many grassroots organizations, Conari Press funded and facilitated the kickoff year.

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK) was created in 1995 in the Bay Area to facilitate future celebrations, always taking place in February during Valentine’s Day week. RAK was purchased soon after by a private foundation and moved to Denver, Colorado where it is located today.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a small nonprofit that invests resources into making kindness the norm. We are rooted in the belief that all people can connect through kindness, and we follow a simple framework for everything we do.
Inspire -> Empower -> Act -> Reflect -> Share
*Credit: RAK

Kindness resources: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/rak-day

01/16/2024

A great webinar from MyFace.org coming up that you don't want to miss, so mark your calendars!
“This webinar will provide strategies that promote the well-being of all members of the family – including caregivers and siblings. The discussion will explore effective communication techniques, stress management and self-care, and the unique needs and challenges of siblings. Further information about the webinar can be found in the attached flyer. Those who take part in the live webinar will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers during the Q&A that follows the presentations.
myFace is pleased to collaborate with the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association (ACPA) to present this educational program.
To register for the webinar, please visit: myFace.org/FamilySupport”

01/16/2024

In celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, please help us to congratulate Dayton Children’s first ever certified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Ambassadors for recently completing their DEI training!

As Dr. King said, “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve.” And our DEI ambassadors are putting diversity into action and serving others by working to make our hospital and our community a more inclusive place for all people!

These 22 trailblazers represent the diversity of Dayton Children’s as they are all employees with different backgrounds, identities, stories, and job roles that span 20 different departments in the hospital. Now that they are certified as DEI champions within the hospital, they are ready to engage in meaningful conversations about DEI at work and in their community while also acting as courageous allies to all employees at Dayton Children’s.

“At Dayton Children's, we all align around our mission of the relentless pursuit of optimal health for every child within our reach. But we know that every child is different. Every family is different, and so aligning around the recognition that differences are important, that they matter and that we're going to acknowledge them and appreciate them is what I think makes us so special,” shares Debbie Feldman, Dayton Children’s President and CEO.

We care about serving our community, and advocating for justice at Dayton Children’s! If you want to be a diversity champion as well, start by checking out our careers page to learn about all of the opportunities available at Dayton Children’s!

01/16/2024

During this January month of awareness for birth defects, this is a read about , a condition meaning an excess of amniotic fluid that a mother carries throughout her pregnancy.

While an excess of this fluid can have various indications, fetuses that will be born (or are diagnosed via ultrasound or genetics) with specific craniofacial conditions often will have issues with swallowing. Therefore, the mother will take on the fluid, causing her to swell and be uncomfortable. Often the excess fluid will have to be taken from the mother throughout the pregnancy to relieve the uncomfortableness. Some mothers go throughout the pregnancy without doctors or anyone realizing there is a problem. Read below to learn more ...
http://tinyurl.com/Polyhydramnios

Polyhydramnios is a medical condition in pregnant women where an excess of amniotic fluid occurs in the amniotic sac. This extra amniotic fluid is not uncommon in pregnancies and can occur for unknown, often harmless, reasons. However, in some pregnancies, the excess amniotic fluid can signal gestat...

01/16/2024

We are halfway through the 2024 National Birth Defects Awareness Month! There are many resources to learn more about birth conditions (birth defects) as well as prevention information. Here are a few sites:
- https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/index.html
- https://www.nbdpn.org/bdam.php
- https://www.childrensdayton.org/patients-visitors/services/plastic-surgery/cleft-lip-palate
-https://acpacares.org/
- https://www.childrensdayton.org/patients-visitors/services/craniofacial-center/conditions-we-treat
- https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/good-health-before-pregnancy-prepregnancy-care