How To Get Your Child To Accept Dental Treatment?

Parent face many challenging situations as they bring up their child, and near the top of that list for many will be taking their child to the dentist. Getting a child to accept any medical treatment can be tough, however dental treatment is the only place where the child can simply refuse to open their mouth and there is nothing that can be done about it.

There has to be a small amount of compliance from the child, otherwise the treatment cannot be provided. This can turn into a really ugly situation causing a lot of heartache and stress to all the parties involved.

So what can you do to ensure that your child learns to accept dental treatment and does not develop an irrational fear of dentists for life?

It Starts With The Parents

The first thing to remember when approaching this situation is to realize that while some children are petrified of going to the dentist, others seem absolutely happy to get their routine check-ups done. It is not a given that every child has to fear the dentist.

A lot of the time, parents just consider a fear of the dentist a normal thing, and not only do they not contradict this, they also perpetuate it. A threat of "we will take you to the dentist if you.." is used for everything from not eating your food to having too much candy or just simply as something horrible that will happen to the child if they do not behave.

It is important that parents do not compare a visit to the dentist to a punishment. Another thing that the parents should never do is to bribe the child for going to a dentist.

What they should do instead is to instill the importance of keeping their teeth healthy at a young age and make them understand the role a dentist plays. They should also be informed a little bit about what they should expect at the dentist.

If the parent is unsure themselves, then a simple web search will throw up videos that the child can watch.

At The Dental Office

Once the child is in the dental office, the role of the parent and the dentist becomes equally important. The importance of a smile and a friendly disposition towards a child who is experiencing dental treatment for the first time cannot be overstated.

Most dentists do not perform any procedure on the child during the first visit. The objective should be to get the child acquainted with the surroundings as well as the people in the dental office. The child should be made to sit on the dental chair and be comfortable enough to open their mouth and allow for an examination by the dentist.

READ Impact Of Poor Dental Health

Some children are too scared or unwilling to even sit on the chair. In such a case, the parents are instructed to sit on the chair with the child and the examination is done after that. It is important to let the child know that this will not be repeated on further appointments.

The dentist should, in simple terms that the child is familiar with, explain what they can expect from the procedure. For example, the water spray during cavity preparation can be explained as a tiny shower to give the teeth a bath.

Teaching Kids How To Cope At The Dentist

Tell, Show, Do

These are the three things that dentists will follow while treating a child. Tell them what you are about to do, show the instrument you are going to do it with and maybe even let them feel it to make them more comfortable and then use it.

This is a classic technique used to gain the trust of the patient and make them feel "in control" of the situation.

Modeling

For children who are having a hard time understanding what the doctor and parents are telling them or are refusing to trust their word, allowing them to see how other "model" patients their age behave is a very effective method.

This can be achieved with the help of elder siblings or even other unknown patients. The idea is to let the child and observe treatment procedures to realize that there is nothing that they need to be afraid of.

Positive/Negative Reinforcement

The dentist and the parents need to reinforce positive behavior by the child with encouragement and patience while gently letting the child know what kind of behavior is not acceptable.

For certain children who refuse to accept dental treatment even after all of these efforts, it may become necessary to use a combination of restraints, sedation and coercive measures to provide them with treatment. These practices have been abandoned to a large extent as they can instill a permanent fear of the dentist.

Only treatment that is absolutely necessary for such patients is provided up until they grow older and are better able to accept dental treatment.

Pedodontists

These are dentists that have specialized in providing care to children and been specifically trained in managing their behavior. It is a good idea to try and have your child be treated by pedodontists, particularly if they have demonstrated an unwillingness to accept dental treatment in the past. Most clinical practices nowadays have a pedodontist on board.

READ How To Get Your Child To Accept Dental Treatment?

Conclusion

Children are afraid of the unknown, which is why they are afraid of closed rooms or darkness or monsters that lurk under their beds. They are afraid of dental treatment because they do not know what to expect and have been fed poor information from various sources.

It is important to have patience and realize that the child requires understanding rather than being scolded. They need to be made to feel safe and reassured that nothing horrible is going to happen to them.

This information is most effective coming from the people that they trust most, their parents. Make sure that they receive the right information at an early age so that they do not have to face serious issues later in life.