Your Kids Need Not Worry In Our Pediatric Office
Our practice understands that the dental visit can potentially be intimidating to children, especially a child’s first visit. Recognizing this and understanding what contributes to your child’s fear allows you to help your child feel better about the experience overall. Let’s take a look at what children fear when a visit to the pediatric dentist office approaches and how to enhance your a child’s dental visit experience.
• Rule No. 1 – Never try to trick your child about a dentist office visit. Children are often quite a bit sharper than we think. These days they watch television, and navigate computers and the internet as well as, or even better than we do. You may want to explain to them what to expect in simple terms or show them a cartoon experience for them to visualize what to expect.
• Be a good role model– Children learn more from watching others than most anything else. If you are fearful of your turn in the dentist chair, then your child will likely be scared as well. Never be anxious on behalf of your children.
• Fear of pain – Fearing pain is natural, and it is also natural to want to avoid pain. Never use words like needle, shot or pull. These words will only heighten a child’s fear, instead say sleepy juice or wiggle.
• Choosing the best child dentist – The welcome that you receive when you walk into the dentist’s office can make all the difference. It is important to choose a competent pediatric dentist that has a genuine love for children and males a genuine effort to make your child comfortable.
• Managing uncertainty– Children, just like adults, get scared when they are unsure as to what is happening or what is going to happen next. Be sure to take the time to discuss things honestly and openly with your child, so that you can work through their apprehensions and misgivings. Make an effort to discover your child’s particular concerns. They may have seen a movie or heard a horror story about the dentist from a friend—these things can be very real and frightening to them.
• Make it fun – A dentist’s chair and all of their other equipment can look scary, so let your child see and touch the equipment. The way you approach a pediatric dental visit can be the difference between the experience being horrible or pleasant. These tips can help you and your child have the best dental visit possible.