Dr Agnes Roze, the co Founder of Dr. Roze Biodental and Biohealth Clinics, began her career in France. Her passion for children took her to Lille where she was offered a post as an assistant teaching professor in Paedodontic and Prevention Dentistry.

Dr Agnes believes that children are truly unique and deserve the best noninvasive non traumatic approach to dentistry. Intuitively, Dr. Agnes recognizes that health centered biological dentistry is in the best interest of her little patients and considers it her mission to restore and maintain the natural health, function and beauty of your little ones’s teeth.

“As a mum of three children, I understand the challenges that come with kids – their daily routines and education as well as making the best decisions for them and constantly worrying about them.

I credit much of my interest in a holistic lifestyle to my mother who spend lots of time with us in the Swiss Alps, trekking, learning natural remedies, giving my brother and I a childhood nature connected. I continue this approach with my own family and in my professional activity as well.

Intuitively, I’ve always felt that health centered dentistry is in the best interest of the patient, and I realized early on that the traditional “drill and fill” dental philosophy wasn’t going to work for me.

As a paediatric dentist, besides using minimally invasive dentistry and safe, durable, non-toxic bio-compatible dental materials, it is also crucial to me to create an atmosphere where parents and children will feel at ease and can take any of their worries off their mind. I adore children and I love helping them to overcome their fears of the dentist.

It is crucial for me to gain their confidence and build a trust that will last for years. Seeing them coming out with a smile on their face is a fantastic reward.

Now I live in Dubai with my family and work with my husband, David Roze in our clinic. I enjoy running and have competed in some races. My true passion however is trekking as I love the physical, mental and emotional accomplishment of reaching to top of a mountain.

I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Blanc, Mt Kasbek and a few more summits. I am thrilled that now my children are joining me in these adventures!

1/- Why did you decide to be a dentist?

From as long as I can remember I wanted to be a dentist, even though there were none in the family. It probably comes from the trauma I had when I was 7 years old and broke all my front teeth after a bad fall….all my childhood I had to visit the dentist many times per year, some dentist being nicer than others, I promised myself that if I had to be a dentist later on, I will be a gentle and comprehensive one !

2/- Where did you study? Graduated?

I graduated from the University of Rennes ( general dentist ), from the University of Lille ( Master in biomedical sciences ) and Pediatric dentistry training, and from the University of Marseille in Pediatric Traumatology

3/- What are your areas of expertise?

Children ;-)….I love turning a child that hates coming to the dentist or is super anxious about it, in a child that jumped on a chair when he comes in and he is happy to tell me all about his day and his teeth !

4/- Are they new techniques / specialities that you would like to learn?

There has been a huge evolution in our field, luckily and procedures are less traumatic than a few years back. I would love to learn about the new revitalizing technique where you can bring back vascularisation in a dead tooth.

5/- What do you like the most in your professional life?

The interaction with my little patients and their family

6/- What was the most complicated case you did treat in your career?

With children the most complicated case is not the technical part usually, it’s more making them feel confident enough that they can have the treatment. So it’s about, for example, convincing a little one just to enter the room sometimes. On the technical part, the most difficult cases usually are the ones following traumas ( fall on the face, hit on the face by an hard object, trampoline, pool trauma…. )

7/- What are the most important human qualities required to be a good dentist?

Empathie, patience and being a good listener

8/- How do you deal with anxious patients?

We have the nitrous oxide gas ( laughing gas ) that helps them relax, it’s a lot of talking and demonstration with the little ones, it’s a step by step approach in the treatment, and you need to go at your patient pace. Some will tolerate a 5min cession, some 30 min. You need to adjust and be flexible

9/- What has been your greatest accomplishment professionally speaking so far?

Having previously traumatized patients happy to come back in the dental room and feeling super at ease

10/- What do you like the most coming from your patients?

Their little smile, and drawings

11/- What do you fear the most from your patients?

Their tears

12/- Do you have a nice and/or funny story or anecdote to tell us about something that you experienced with a patient?

I find the rate for the tooth fairy is always very interesting, it goes from 1dhs to 500 dhs per tooth !!! And then usually the funniest thing is when children are telling me about their parents’ habits with their diet and their oral hygiene. There are always some surprises about who is eating the most sweets …!

13/- What would you recommend to us parents, as basic daily habits, to improve and optimize our children s dental health? Can you give us some tips please?

• With the young ones, first make brushing fun and make it a habit ! Do it as a family, play songs while brushing, let them play and chew on the toothbrush, brush the teeth/mouth of their favorite teddy bear…start young and be consistent and don’t hesitate to use a reward chart.
• Do it twice a day
• Choose the right toothpaste for their age with the right ingredients, you do not want them to swallow any unnecessary chemicals, check with your pediatric dentist
• Make sure their diet is tooth friendly and limit snacking. Prioritise natural food and whole food, avoid any processed food and make them chew on hard food when they are old enough, carrots, apples so they make their teeth and muscles work and stimulate their saliva!
• Make sure they drink plenty of water, and limit juice and flavored milk.
• Visit the dentist early to be able to talk about : how to navigate brushing battles, breathing, tongue tie, sleep hygiene, how cavities can be sign of deficiencies, how to stop and reverse small cavities

Examples of best food for your oral health : seaweed snacks , veggies, berries, cheese, tofu, meat sticks, olives pickles
If you feel you are doing everything correctly and your child still has cavities, check if they are mouth breathing. Because it will lower the PH in their mouth and change their oral microbiome, increase the level of harmful bacteria

14/- Are they some products / habits to definitely avoid ? On the contrary, do you have some recommendations of active ingredients that should be the golden rule from now on?

• toothpaste that contains fluoride and chemicals
• mouthwash

Worst food for your child oral health :
sugary cereals, package and ultra processed cookies
gold fish crackers, graham crackers, ritz crackers , fruits snacks
dried fruits, that’s the snicky one but sugar concentration is higher and it’s sticky
Chips, juice
sports drinks
sticky candy of course

Tips : if they do get exposed in a snack session with these foods, offer apple, carrot or celery sticks after, some cheese and plenty of water. That will help remove the food debris

• Active ingredients to look for in toothpaste : hydroxyapatite, xylitol, baking soda, bentonite clay
• Active ingredients to help strengthening your teeth and have healthy gums : Vit C, omega 3, vitamin D3/K2, zinc, and magnesium coQ10

Conclusion : It is very difficult to navigate between all the oral products that are in the market and find the right ones for the patients. Nowadays parents are overwhelmed with information, our role is to help them and guide them in their oral health journey and reassure them. For a long time, the mouth has been dissociated from the body, the challenges is to understand how finally the mouth is connecting to the body and raise awareness about that