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If youre worrying about taking a nervous child to a dental appointment, youll be wanting to know what you can do to make the experience less stressful for everyone involved. Thankfully, there are effective ways to help and make the appointment much more pleasant. Here are some handy hints:
Have a big chat with your little one and try to get to the bottom of where the fear is coming from. Its more than likely that they are picking up on tension that you are radiating or have shown in the past over your own dental treatment. Maybe children at school or playgroup have been planting the seeds of fear in your little ones mind. Whatever the cause, choose a quiet time and approach the subject when you can give it your full attention.
Its important to show that you understand and express that you’ve felt the same way too. Try not make light of the fear but instead tell them about one of your fears and how you cope with it. Talking about it is the only way to build trust between you and your child, allowing them to open up and letting you get to the underlying problem. For General Dental Practice Leicester, visit http://www.sjrdental.co.uk/general-dentistry/
See if you can make a family appointment as it will undoubtedly ease a lot of worry if your young one can see a parent and/or sibling have a check-up at the same time. Seeing others going through the process and being fine will give your child that additional boost of confidence to know that all is well. If they do have older brothers and sisters, taking them along to their appointments before they need to attend themselves is a great way to familiarise them with the environment.
Speak to the dentist as well as these days, bedside manner has greatly improved and if your dentist knows in advance, then they can adapt their methods for nervous or timid patients. Find a dental surgery that offers fantastic customer service, has toys in the waiting area and takes the time to put patients at ease every time they visit.
Try to find childrens programmes that talk about oral hygiene, make teeth cleaning fun and show little ones how to brush their teeth. Youll be able to find cartoons and songs online or on YouTube. There are also many different bright and colourful kids toothbrushes available and fun timers so you know that they are brushing their teeth for the recommended length of time. If they complain about not liking the taste of minty toothpaste then there are other fruity flavours you can try instead.
Its important to establish good oral hygiene routines early on in life to provide the best possible chance to avoid problems and discomfort in later life. A child should be brushing their teeth at least twice a day. Under six years of age, you need a pea-sized amount of low-fluoride toothpaste but over the age of six, they can use normal adult fluoride toothpaste.
