It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to schedule your child’s first visit to the dentist or the fifth, children are often anxious about seeing the dentist about their teeth. Your little one has sprouted teeth and is ready to start visiting the dentist. But if they’re starting to panic about having to go, you need to be gentle and a guiding voice to help them to be happy with the idea. Seeing a dentist can be a nerve-wracking experience for an adult, so you can imagine how difficult it can be for a child to see a complete stranger he’s going to want to look inside their mouth.
With the help of a great family dentist, you should be able to ensure that your child is calm and happy to be able to sit in the chair and have one of the most important appointments of the childhood. Family dentists specialize in the oral health of children, and that can begin from infancy through to adolescence and beyond. They will be able to help you as a parent to come up with a plan to help them to establish great oral health habits at home so that they can keep the teeth as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Below, we’ve got tips to help you to ensure that this is an easy and pleasant appointment.
- Talk to your children. The first thing that you need to do is discuss the dentist appointment with your child. If you talk to your children, you can incorporate oral hygiene advice and tips with books and stories about healthy teeth and gums. If you make oral health fun and educational, your child won’t be afraid to go to the dentist. Education can help, but obviously with toddlers it may take a little bit longer.
- Create excellent oral hygiene routines at home. The first step to ensuring that your children have great oral health is not necessarily the dentist office. If you ensure that all of your children have good oral hygiene from the moment they are having their first teeth then they will be used to a good oral care routine even before a dental appointment is booked. Making teeth brushing fun with musical and singing toothbrushes, adding a timer into the bathroom so that you can keep up with their tooth brushing routine, and ensuring that they are keeping up with things like flossing and mouthwash is important. There are plenty of ways that you can do this, and all of them will help you to have calm and effective dental appointments because they will understand why it’s important and what to expect.
- Get to know your local dentist. It’s all well and good to take your children to the dentist, but it’s important that you get to know them as well. Ask for recommendations from people that you trust for a dentist for the fun environment and a friendly staff. They will be able to come and comfort your child and make them feel at ease just as much as you
I agree with all of these tips! It has also helped us to take our kids to a dentist that is just for kids. The chairs and all of the equipment are kid-sized and all of the staff are trained to work with kids. It has been such a great experience!