How to Prepare a Child for Dental Care

Member

By pepper0617
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating:

(8 Ratings)

Boy getting dental care

Going to the Dentist is stressful for adults, and even more so for a small child who has never gone and has to get routine dental care. Children are scared of getting teeth pulled and intimidated by the dental atmosphere. Even the smell of a dentist office is something a child will remember for a long time. Finding a good pediatric dentist may make your child feel better, as the dentist office is built around the needs of the child, or a dentist specializing in family dentistry. If all else fails there is sleep dentistry for someone that is totally distraught about going to the dentist.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Time to prepare child for dentist
Patience
Understanding

Step 1

Going to the Dentist is stressful for adults, and even more so for a small child who has never gone and has to get routine dental care. Children are scared of getting teeth pulled and intimidated by the dental atmosphere. Even the smell of a dentist office is something a child will remember for a long time. Finding a good pediatric dentist may make your child feel better, as the dentist office is built around the needs of the child, or a dentist specializing in family dentistry. If all else fails there is sleep dentistry for someone that is totally distraught about going to the dentist.
Step 2

Brushing Teeth

Be prepared, you may be asked to sit in the waiting room. Children have a tenancy of acting out in front of their parents. Acting out is not acceptable while having filling done.
Step 3

Your attitude in the dentist office is sure to rub off on your child, don’t show negativity. Always have a positive attitude, and talk to your child in a positive manner. Don’t use words that will scare the child. Always use words that children understand and will not frighten the child.
Step 4

Use words that are used for dental care, words that children will understand. These are some dental terminology that was given to us when we had to have dental treatment for a child in our household. Some of the words include:

Needle or shot use sleepy juice
Drill use whistle
Drill on tooth use clean a tooth
Pull or yank tooth use wiggle a tooth out
Decay, cavity use sugar bug
Examination use count teeth
Tooth cleaning use tickle teeth
Explorer use toothpick
Rubber dam use raincoat
Gas use magic/happy air
Step 5

Using special terminology is not supposed to fool the child, but it is supposed to create a positive experience for children. Prepare your child and make going to the dentist a pleasant experience for all.

Comments

Rachellewms said

Flag This Comment

on 4/3/2009 Very good advice on preparing a child for dental care.

jamiewriter said

on 3/31/2009 Happy air is nice one. As a formerly tortured child dental patient, I appreciate your effort to prepare parents to prepare their children. Good work!