Making Your Child More Comfortable at the Dentist

Many people have a fear of the dentist and often they develop that fear early in life. A child visiting a pediatric dentist is a necessary to keep teeth healthy and start developing good hygiene habits. While many kid’s dentists are trained to help calm children, as parents, we can help our dentist by preparing ourselves and our children to be more relaxed during the visit.

Tell-Show-Do

Explaining what is going to happen during a kid’s dentist visit will help your child feel relaxed during the exam. However, try to keep the explanation simple. If a parent or the dentist goes into too much detail, it could add more anxiety because it will raise more questions. Your pediatric dentist will go over the details of what they are doing, which may include having the child hold a mirror as they are explaining things or showing them how some equipment works.

Some parents attempt to take children along with them to their cleaning. If the parent has any anxiety towards the dental visit, even unknowingly, then their child may sense those fears. When a child knows that a parent is anxious about the dentist, then they may have fear when it comes to their turn to sit in the dental chair.

Positive Reinforcement

As a parent, we know that we need to watch our words. Do not use the statement, “it’s all going to be alright” or words such as hurt, pain, or shots. These words can cause stress and induce strong feelings against the dental visit. Each dental staff is going to have their own vocabulary that they are going to prefer to use with children. They may ask you to use the same vocabulary to reinforce what the dentist uses; examples of these words are strong, healthy, and clean.

Laughing Gas

For those children that are helpful but still afraid, your pediatric dentist may use laughing gas or nitrous oxide to put the child more at ease. Laughing gas is only effective for as long as it is being delivered, usually through a nasal hood. Some children report that their arms and legs feel “tingly” and possibly have a giddy reaction. Your child’s dentist may warn you that some children could end up with an upset stomach from the laughing gas.

Prepare for Some Tantrums

There are times where all of the positive reinforcement in the world may not help the child feel comfortable in the dental chair. While most dentists do their best to give a child a good experience, however, a pediatric dental team may have to deploy other means to keep a child safe. Some of the tactics that may be used are voice control and various forms of physical restraint. Physical restraint or use of a papoose board may be necessary if the child is trying to grab dental equipment. Not only can a child be harmed by the dental equipment but could be harmed by interrupting treatment.

Conclusion

If you are worried on how your child may react to being in the dental chair then reach out to your Brooklyn pediatric dentist, Yury Slepak DDS at 718-998-2424 to determine methods that his team suggests.