Dental phobia can seriously affect your child’s dental health in the later part of life; therefore, it is necessary that as a parent, you help your child overcome the fear of the dentist. A positive attitude towards a dentist and dental treatments will enable them (your child) to be comfortable at the dental clinic, and at the same time will motivate them to visit regularly as well as to take good care of their teeth.
Kids must nurture a positive attitude towards dental care as well as to squash any fears that the dentist might bring. Here’s how you can help your child overcome the fear of the dentist:
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Begin from an Early Age: When your child’s first tooth has come through start taking him/her to the dentist. Later on, you should make an appointment regularly – every six months. Try to make the visits fun, and choose a friendly, open dentist for your child. Most dentists offer stickers as well as some perks for sitting well, which helps to decrease the tension and helps your child to enjoy the experience.
Ensure that you never take your child to one of your scary appointments, such as fillings or root canals. Possibly, you won’t worry about them, but the sounds and the actions of the dentist can be terrifying for a child and may create negative thoughts in their mind.
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Get Your Child into Dental Hygiene Routine: Maintaining good teeth involves no scary procedures. As well as setting your child’s dental hygiene up for life, following some simple steps will allow you to keep your child out of the dentist’s chair.
Avoid making brushing and dental visits a chore, encourage your child and give them positive feedback when they are doing things right. Children love praises and to know they have done well, so make sure you give them this praise and attention soon after visiting the dentist.
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Give Good Explanations: If the dentist has said he needs to pull teeth, then it is important to explain what this will entail and also why it is happening. This will encourage children to be responsible for their future dental hygiene. It is important to try and not scare your children into brushing, but make them aware of the importance of brushing and dental hygiene.
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Make it Child-Friendly: There are lots of ways to introduce dental care to children, books on going to the dentists and using dolls or small world toys to represent what might happen are fantastic ways to introduce the dentist to children. You could also invest in a dressing up kit for the dentist and act out what happens together.
Meet Friendly Pediatric Dentists at SmilePerfectors
At SmilePerfectors, we have some of the best kids’ dentists in Tysons Corner with years of experience in dealing with their little patients (starting from 1 year old to adolescent). We understand that every child is different, so are their dental care requirements; hence, we adopt a personalized treatment approach for every kid depending on their age and dental problems.
If you want to know more about pediatric dentists at SmilePerfectors, then please visit our website at http://smileperfectors.com. We offer various pediatric dental treatments including dental cleaning, dental filling, gum disease treatment, root canal, etc. To schedule an appointment, you can also call us at 703–356–1200.
