How to Help Kids Overcome Fear of Dental Visits

One of the most important things that children need to be taught is good oral hygiene. Building a foundation for healthy teeth and gums will help them maintain their teeth long-term. This blog has tips from an expert pedodontist on how to make dental visits enjoyable for your children.

Understanding Why Kids Fear Dental Visits

Kids often consider visiting the dentist a frightful experience due to the presence of unfamiliar tools, sensory overload by lights, sounds, smells, and negative past experiences. Understanding the cause behind your kid’s fear of the dentist is important before helping them overcome it.

Preparing Your Child for Their First Dental Visit

It is important to start early dental visits for your child. When you notice the growth of your child’s first tooth around the age of 9-12 months, it is usually the right time to take them to their first dental visit. From this point, they will start visiting the dentist at regular intervals. You will have to console and prepare them for these visits.

Explain the process of the dental checkup in a kid-friendly way, and avoid using harsh words such as pain or injections. Using such words might scare them, and they might avoid going to the dentist.

You can also try explaining the procedure through books, videos, and role-play to familiarize them with what to expect and by casually taking them to meet the dentist a few days before their appointment.

Tips to Make the Dental Visit Fun and Positive

• Choose a pediatric dentist: The dentist you visit must be qualified to take good care of children’s oral health while preventing them from throwing tantrums. Thus, choose a pedodontist who is good at treating kids and is gentle with them.
• Bring a comfort item: Children are very connected to their comfort items such as toys, clothes, or blankets. Identify your kid’s comfort items and carry them with you during dental checkups; if they have a comfort shirt, dress them up in it to keep them calm while the dentist is examining them.
• Encourage your child: Encouragement strategies, such as praise or a trip to the park, encourage them to return to the dentist and have a nice experience.
• Distraction techniques: Engage your child in activities such as playing their favorite music, streaming their favorite cartoon, or telling them a story to distract them. At the same time, the dentist examines their oral health.

The Role of the Dentist in Easing Fear

Pediatric dentists are trained to handle the different behaviors of kids during dental visits. They use certain techniques, such as ‘tell-show-do’, where they tell children about each tool, show them how it would work, and then use it. These child-friendly ways give the children a sense of control.

Some dentists also let the kids touch the dental instruments to assure them that it is completely safe. They use calm, reassuring language and a gentle manner to make the experience as stress-free as possible. Thus, dentists' behavior plays a major role in shaping children’s attitudes towards dental visits.

Long-Term Strategies for Reducing Dental Anxiety

• Establish a Consistent Dental Routine: Establish a consistent dental visit routine for your child. Take them to the dentist once every six months to get them used to the environment and dental visits.
• Build a Relationship with the Dentist: Build a good relationship with the dentist with whom you wish to pursue your kid’s dental treatment. A well-formed relationship will help build a strong bond between the dentist and your child, making them comfortable for dental visits in the long term.
• Positive Parental Attitude: As parents, it is recommended that you develop a positive attitude towards dental checkups, which your children can learn from and replicate during dental visits.
• Normalize the Experience: It is important to normalize the experience of visiting the dentist and getting a checkup. Talk casually about these checkups and not treat them like a big deal while informing your child about them so that they look like normal things.

Dental checkups can be comfortable and even fun with the proper techniques. Try following these tips while taking your kids to dental checkups. If you are looking for kids dental treatment in Rajaji Nagar, schedule a consultation with our expert at Revive Dental and Facial Cosmetic Clinic.