If you ask any child, they can probably tell you that going to the dentist is the last thing they want to do. Most children are afraid of going to the dentist – the only problem with this is that it is vital for children to go to the dentist once or twice a year. Children must go to the dentist for a variety of reasons – they have new teeth coming in and they can be more susceptible to cavities, mainly because they eat a lot of candy and they have a high sugar content in their food. When it comes down to it, there are many ways to alleviate a child’s dental anxiety. Here are five tips to help parents manage their child’s dental anxiety.
The earlier the better. Alleviating a child’s fear of dentists earlier in their life is important, because they will be more accustomed to going to the dentist when they get older. You can imagine going to the dentist the first time – with all their shiny metals tools – it would scare any child. So, it is crucial that you build up a child’s comfort factor when it comes to going to the dentist. You usually want to start when your child’s first teeth come in.
Make it easy. Most parents assume that they have to explain to their child about all the procedures that a dentist will perform, but if you want to alleviate a child’s anxiety, you want to keep it vague. The reason for this is simple: the more you explain to them, the more questions your child will have. The more questions there are, the more nervous they will get. This is especially the case when they are in the chair and asking about the tools on the dentist’s table.
