Making sure your child sees a pediatric dentist at regular intervals is important for helping to keep their teeth and gums healthy, right throughout childhood and into adulthood. Establishing a good oral care routine that includes pediatric dental care will help develop good habits that will hopefully last for life. However visiting an unfamiliar environment can be scary for a young child but as your kid is likely to need at least 10 trips to visit a dentist before beginning kindergarten, it’s important to persevere with regular dental visits. So what can you do if your child is already nervous about dental visit and is it possible to reduce dental anxiety?
Pediatric Dentists Are Specially Trained to Treat Kids
The good news is that you will find a pediatric dentist is extremely experienced in helping a child feel comfortable and relaxed. Jersey City dentists are specially trained to reduce dental anxiety and treat young children and will help them feel at ease. In general, it is better to start their dental visits as early as possible; by age 1 or when their first tooth is visible as this will provide your child with a familiar environment where all their dental needs can be catered to, whether this includes emergency dental care or hopefully just regular preventative dental visits.
Keeping That First Dental Visit Simple
When preparing your child for their first dental visit it’s best not to include too many details as this could cause unnecessary anxieties and not going to reduce dental fears. They should be able to grow up thinking of dental visits to Jersey City dental care as merely being routine and certainly nothing to be scared about. Some parents and caregivers find it very useful to have a pretend dental visit with their child, perhaps by just gently looking inside their mouth and counting their teeth. It’s also possible to buy picture books that have lots of detailed illustrations that can help give a nervous child an idea of what to expect.
Reduce Dental Anxiety by Using Positive Language
It’s important to use positive language when describing a dental visit to a young child and if they do require any pediatric dentistry treatment then you will find our pediatric dentists are extremely good at explaining situations in a way children find very easy to understand. Instead of using negative language, try to use positive phrases and explain that dental care is necessary for clean, strong and healthy teeth. We go out of our way to help young children relax, especially if it is their very first visit to our dental office and we can explain their dental care in ways that will seem fun and entertaining and helpful to reduce dental anxiety.
Avoid Letting Your Own Dental Experiences Influence Your Kid
We know many adults have dental anxiety and odontophobia of their own, perhaps due to a previous bad experience. It’s vital not to let these experiences influence your child as it is amazingly easy to pass on dental fears and we know this can be quite difficult to reduce dental fears. Some parents also take their kids with them to their own dental visits and an adult dental office is quite a different experience to a Jersey City pediatric dentistry office. Our dental office is particularly kid friendly and is far more welcoming for a child who may feel nervous.
If your kid is especially anxious about dental visits then please talk to us when you book their appointment as there is lot we can do to help them. We are gentle with every single one of our young patients but we take even more care with children who are nervous.
