One of the most common phobias in the world as well as spiders and heights, is the dentist. There are many reasons why a person may fear the dentist, from bad childhood experiences to not understanding what a dentist is actually doing. Ensuring this fear is gone or minimized from an early age can significantly help children as they become adults and will have more invasive procedures.
Take Them from an Early Age
Your child should be registered with a dentist as early as possible and can see a dentist as soon as they get their first teeth. As your child’s baby teeth fall out and adult ones begin to grow, the number of dental appointments before kindergarten may be over 10! Dental practices will always try and accommodate families so that they can all be registered at the same place to avoid several trips and different professionals. Gainesville Family Dental Care offer family appointments so that both parents and children can be seen in one sitting, easing your child’s anxieties as they see their parents or siblings doing the same thing. Overall, ensure you do not show any anxiety to your children, as they can pick this up very easily, especially from their parents.
Use Appropriate Language
With a child, there is no need to over complicate visiting the dentist. Do not use any terms that may scare them such as pain or hurt, as even saying “it won’t hurt” is enough to make a child wonder why you have used that type of vocabulary. More information will mean more questions that may become increasingly harder to answer. Keeping it simple works best, and the dental nurses will answer any questions your child may have when they arrive, they will know how to answer every question your child could possibly think of. Encouraging your child to have clean, healthy teeth and explaining the dentist is there to ensure their teeth are perfect for the tooth fairy or that the dentist is going to count their teeth can be enough to alleviate a child’s fear.
Using bribery to get your children to visit the dentist will not help alleviate their fear, but probably aggravate it. If they believe the dentist is so bad they need to get a treat for going, they may become more anxious and this also leads to a viscous circle of your child wanting a treat every time they visit the dentist. As the dentist is supporting good oral hygiene this will also go against what the child has just been told, confusing them further. Instead afterwards praise your child for their good behavior and for being brave. The dentist will probably do the same, with millions of stickers waiting in their drawers for after your child’s oral examination.
Going to the dentist will never be the most pleasant experience as having someone poke around your mouth is never comfortable, but it is incredibly important for your children and if you visit a dentist you trust, there is no need to have any anxieties.