6 Ways to win your child’s heart when going to the Dentist

Is your child afraid of going to the dentist?

We believe that all parents care for their child’s dental health and don’t want them to cry every time they need to go to the dentist. We have some good suggestions that can make going to the dentist easier for your child.

1. Find a dentist for your child at a young age.

Getting kids to go to the dentist at a young age will help build familiarity for them, and parents should act as if it is their routine activity. Parents should bring their children to the dentist from the age of 1 or when their first tooth appears.

2. Prepare your child.

Before going to the dentist, parents can play roles acting as if they are the doctor with a patient (their child is the patient) using just a toothbrush. They can pretend to count each child’s teeth or have your child look in the mirror and tell the dentist what the dentist will do during the teeth check up, or have the child play brushing teeth with their dolls.

3. Be careful with the words.

Avoid using the words ‘pain’, ‘ache’, ‘tooth extraction’, ‘injection’ on children. Let the dentist and child specialists speak to the children themselves because they know how to cope with the situation. If the parents want to say something to their child before going to the dentist, just say, ‘The doctor will check your smile’, ‘He will count how many teeth you have’ and other positive words such as ‘clean teeth’, ‘strong teeth’, and ‘healthy teeth’.

4. Do not take your child to see your dentist too.

Some parents may want their children to see what it’s like to go to the dentist by taking them to their dentist appointment. This is a wrong idea because dentists treating adults are different from dentists treating children. At SmileBox Clinic, we have our own dentists who are experts in handling kids. Therefore, it is better for your child to see a dentist who treats children specifically (Pediatric Dentists).

5. Do not bribe.

Many experts would advise parents not to bribe children to the dentist by saying, ‘If you are a good kid and won’t cry, I will give you a reward.’ This will make the children think, ‘Is going to the dentist really that bad?’ Especially giving candy as a reward, because all dentists will tell children to refrain from eating sweets for good dental health anyway. We recommend parents to give out stickers and toys as a reward for being a good kid, instead of sweets.

6. Teach your child how to maintain healthy teeth.

Tell your children regularly that seeing a dentist is necessary, not an option; and that the dentist will take care of their teeth to be strong enough to chew food. Always tell your children that going to the dentist will make them smile more brightly.

If you are a parent looking for a dental clinic that offers child’s dentistry service, please come visit us at SmileBox Dental Clinic .

If you would like a consultation about child dentistry (Pediatric), or make an appointment with us, please fill out the form below and our staff will get back to you as soon as possible.