Is it your child’s first visit at the dentist?

Make sure you prepare your child. One important thing is to talk about your dentist with nice words only. Describe the experience as a fun one. Always present the experience as positive 🙂

If you are particularly scared of the dentist it is important to not let that fear show through. Sometimes it is even better to address your own fears first. As psychologist Dr Bruce Peltier, PhD described the therapy with one of his patients “Over the course of almost a dozen sessions, the patient and I worked together to teach him self-hypnosis to relax and then used systematic desensitization to help him overcome his dental phobia.”

“The patient was proud, and the dentist felt good about it,” says Peltier, an associate professor of psychology at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco. “There’s a lot psychologists can do for dentists, their staff and their patients.”

Do a little research and explain to her how it will go.

Start by showing your child photos of the clinic and of the staff. Good tools are our website, google and youtube.

You can also show your child an educational video that will help to show her what will actually happen during her appointment at the clinic. This video above is particularly good, because it describes the actual experience.

Make sure you book the appointment early in the morning, as children are in better shape at that time. We often see patients in the evening, and since it is closer to their bedtime, they tend to be a little more grumpy and overall more tired of their day. We are also open Saturdays!

Before the appointment feed your child his normal meal. Avoid foods that are too heavy or greasy, and try to stay away from too much junk food.

All these recommendations will put your child in a better position to have fun at his appointment. Every fun dentist appointment will help motivate your little munchkin to brush, floss and take care of his teeth, which in return will help preserve his overall health for a very long time.

Voilà. Happy dentist appointment! 🙂