Tips to Help your Kids Overcome the Fear in Dental Visits
To promote excellent oral health hygiene for your kids, you need to teach them as early as you can. Dental check-ups are very important especially to kids at their very young age. Here are some tips to help your child conquer or at least lessen his fear of dental clinics, or dental check-ups.
Tip #1: Start early. Early implementation of having good oral hygiene is very much important so the earlier the visit to the dentist, the better the results and long term effects will be. This will help them build familiarity with the dentist and the practice and will lessen the fear factor. Also, you can do an introductory visit for the child to adapt and adjust to the environment so they’ll be at ease the next time you visit a dentist.
Tip #2: Play a “Pretend Visit”. Before your appointment to the dentist, consider a “pretend visit”. If your kid can play dungeons and dragons with you using a couple of pillows and a sword – doing a pretend visit to the dentist will be easy peasy for them. It is important to familiarize your child with the basic routine a real dentist will do on a regular visit. You can play using the toothbrush by counting one’s teeth and starting the counting process with the aid of numbers and letters. You can even use mirrors to show them how the dentist’s visit procedures will be. Allow your your child to role-play using a toothbrush and asking her/him to brush the teeth of his action figures/toys. In this way, your child will be a lot more comfortable for the visiting proper.
Tip #3: Emphasize the importance of having a good oral health state. Instilling the practices for good oral hygiene to your children will make them confident to show off their clean and white smile. Healthy teeth and mouth requires maintenance.
Tip #4: Teach them not to be scared. Learn to describe things in a way that invites them to visit a dentist, not incite fear. Fear of the dentist isn’t passed out just as easy as it may be acquired. Parents are the ones responsible for teaching their children not to fear this kind of circumstance. Telling your kids about your past experiences(specifically the scare-inducing ones) when visiting the dentist may contribute to their own fear building.
Tip #5: Avoid bribing your children. Giving treats such as toys and chocolates to your children just to convince them to go to a dentist is not a good habit to make. Visiting the dentist must be taught to kids as a must but enjoyable thing to do. If the parent will keep on giving treats just for them to come visit a dentist, it will lose the essence of visiting dental doctors. You can give treats sometimes but not each and every visit.
With good practice and a lot of guidance, what was once a dreaded visit to the dentist can be an enjoyable and fruitful one. There are plenty of dental care providers who proactively have nice approaches towards children and this helps a lot too. Just keep in mind that by starting at a young age, you are already ensuring the future of your child’s dental health.