In the year since Dr. Amanda Cole has taken over a beloved pediatric dentistry practice, she’s learned a lot about what it takes to honor a meticulously nurtured legacy while creating something new and impressive in its own right.
And she’s so thrilled with the family that Babbie Pediatric Dental’s team and patients have become that she’s finally ready to pause and gratefully reflect on the journey thus far.
“I feel like this year was just so much from Point A to Point Z,” Dr. Cole says, reflecting on how one member of the Babbie team perfectly demonstrates just how far everyone’s come. “One of our staff members didn’t feel comfortable using computers at first, and now she’s fully typing notes and she’s incredible and amazing, and she told me, ‘I feel so empowered and I’ve learned so much.’ I’ve seen that level of personal growth with so many of the people close to the practice and in the practice itself that part of me just wants to live in that for a little bit and take a minute to appreciate it.”
The Babbie name is new, but the practice had belonged to Dr. Bill Beck for nearly 30 years. The elder dentist retired once he found the right person to inherit the roster of patients who trusted him for three generations in some cases, and living up to his standards is a responsibility Dr. Cole takes very seriously.
Part of ushering Babbie into its next chapter includes updating and streamlining its capabilities, technology and processes to further improve the entire patient experience. But it also means earning the trust of every youngster they treat and getting to know them and their families, all of which go a long way in facilitating the warmth that makes going to the dentist a less intimidating necessity.
“There was so much love for Dr. Bill, so there was a mix of emotions during that period of change we were helping everyone navigate while also proving ourselves, but it’s been wonderful developing relationships with the patients, who are really, really special,” Dr. Cole says. “The most wonderful thing is to have a patient who was so fearful or scared or has high anxiety or trauma, and then they tell us that they love coming here.”
Dr. Cole also has been eager to expand the outreach that’s helped the practice establish its place as a driver of oral-health education, overall wellness and accessible treatment.
“We do a lot of school visits: We’ll do them for Back to School in September and then we do them for Children’s Dental Health Month,” she begins, adding that other efforts include donating free oral health services to underserved children during Rowan University’s Give Kids a Smile Day and partnering with Vineland Soup Kitchen to donate oral health supplies, food and other items. “We try to do a lot of public health and community engagement, so I’ve been looking into how we can create an even greater impact in that way and continue to evolve those relationships.”
Dr. Cole emphasizes that since “community is incredibly important to us,” so too is deepening the relationships she values—starting with the Babbie family, who were the guests of honor at the practice’s recent open house.
“The open house was us celebrating how we hold this place in our hearts and how we want it to feel for our patients and their families,” says Dr. Cole. “It was our way of thanking everyone who was so involved not just with renovating the practice but with so many different aspects of it: So many people close to us helped from my family to my husband’s family to our closest friends.”
An open house also presented the perfect opportunity to both partner with and support other South Jersey businesses, like Inclusion Coffee Shop, whose mission Dr. Cole says “really aligns with ours,” and RAIR, whose artwork throughout the office includes patient murals.
As the Babbie family includes the very building that two dental practices have called home, and Dr. Cole has diligently ensured that everything from Dr. Bill’s old photos to even older photo frames from her grandmother—whose family nickname inspired the Babbie moniker—have been incorporated in a vibrantly refreshed interior that includes interactive flourishes like a Lite Brite and clappers that give nervous patients an extra hand for their bravery, as well as a “written wall where it’s kind of like a love letter to our families.”
“Bad experiences can stay with you through adulthood, so patients’ well-being truly is prioritized above all else: All of our interactions are intentional, with a focus on the patient experience,” Dr. Cole affirms. “You can’t really fake warmth in a relationship, which I think that’s why I like working with kids so much.”
While Babbie modernizes and grows as a practice, the important things will never change: Every young patient and their grownups will be met with quality care and compassion, and the team will continue nurturing the relationships that began in their practice as they extend into the community in even greater ways.
Babbie Pediatric Dental
Vineland
(856) 205-0099
BabbieDental.com
