smiling kid at dentist

March 27, 2021 3 min to read

How to get your child to become confident at the dentist

Category : Health

A visit to the dentist has many perks, but unfortunately, it can be too much for children. Sure, you might have your full trust in your kid, but who’s to say that they trust themselves?

After all, they’re alone in a room with a stranger that uses metallic objects. It would be more surprising if they act calm despite being their first time at the dentist.

Unfortunately, having low confidence can influence their behavior, and they may even develop a fear of doctors, which is terrible news, especially since most medical checkups have a similar atmosphere.

But how can you improve the confidence of your child?

Below are nine tips on how you can boost your kid’s self-esteem when at the dentist:

1. Don’t Stress Yourself Out About Your Kid’s First Dental Appointment

Parents are sometimes the ones who give their child dental anxiety by unknowingly creating a bigger fuss out of their kid’s first dental visit.

When it comes to fear, children pick up on even the most subtle cues. That’s why it’s essential to prepare yourself. That way, you don’t end up stressing out about your child’s first dental appointment.

Don’t forget that your kid depends on you for everything, and you don’t want to make meeting a dentist for the first time more complicated for your son or daughter than it has to be.

The best thing to do is to prevent building up the event more by not getting into too many details or getting too specific. However, telling your child that everything will be fine isn’t a good idea either.

The last thing you’d want to happen is for them to feel like they let you down if they end up needing some kind of treatment. They may lose their faith in the process because of it.

When decay or cavities are found, and your kid needs a specific treatment, discuss how the procedure can help and ways it can be prevented in the future.

2. Opt For Pediatric Dentists

Pediatrics is a branch of medicine that deals with young ones’ medical care, such as infants and children. On that note, those who practice pediatrics will naturally have more experience dealing with children.

If your goal is to boost your child’s confidence, visiting a pediatric dentist is much better than general practitioners. Who knows—they may even know of a technique to improve their confidence while they’re working.

Since pediatric dentists have experience dealing with infants and toddlers, there should be no problem introducing the dentist to your child at a relatively early age.

3. Introduce Dentists At An Early Age

Experts say that the perfect age to start going to the dentist is six months after the first baby tooth appears. However, there’s no harm in starting earlier.

In fact, it might be a lot better for your kid’s confidence if you don’t wait six months and go to the dentist right away, and there’s a reason behind this.

For starters, kids tend to fear doctors because of the unfamiliar environment, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

You can help them become more familiar with the dentist’s office if you start early. Moreover, since your child will visit a dentist earlier than other kids, they’ll feel as if they’re more well-versed since they have more experience than their peers, which can go a long way at boosting confidence.

4. Use The Right Words When Explaining What They Should Expect From A Dentist

At this point, you may already be preparing how to introduce dentists to your child. When you finally talk about it with your son or daughter, avoid…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about kids and dentists on Daisy Linden’s blog.
 
 

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