How to persuade a child to treat teeth: advice from a psychologist, how to prepare for a trip to the dentist

Taking a baby to the dentist is a big problem for many parents.

It is important to correctly adjust the child to this treatment in advance.

Advice from a psychologist and experienced parents will help you understand how to persuade your child to treat teeth.

Why are children so afraid of dentists?

Children's fear of going to the dentist has good reasons:

1. An experience. Many children who have visited the dentist at least once begin to feel fear of dental treatment.
2. High sensitivity to pain. Children are afraid of any interference and try to isolate themselves from visiting a doctor.
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3. Negative conversations from others. If parents or other people in an unattractive light talked about their feelings that arise during dental treatment, children will definitely remember this.
4. Fear of the unknown. Most children have a negative attitude towards new procedures.
5. Injection fear anesthesia and dental devices, emitting a frightening sound even for adults.
6. Physician's appearance - often at an early age, children are afraid of people in white coats.

In childhood, dental treatment most often begins at the age of 2 years with the use of pain relievers. If there is an urgent need for intervention at an earlier age, each case is considered individually.

What Parents Should Not Do: Major Mistakes

Often parents themselves become guilty that their child is afraid to go to the dentist. Here are the mistakes they make:

1. The little patient learns about the dentist only after the unpleasant sensations in the mouth have appeared. In this case, on a subconscious level, the dentist will be associated with something unpleasant. It would be good to tell the baby as soon as possible, before problems in the oral cavity appear, that there is a doctor who helps to make teeth beautiful and healthy.
2. Parents do not explain the reasons why you need to see a doctor. Many adults believe that going to the dentist unexpectedly can help combat their fear - this is a big mistake. In the future, such an act can develop into a phobia in front of the dentist.
3. The small patient is held by force in the chair, forced to open his mouth. “You won't be cute by force” - if the baby is kept in the chair by force, he will not only be afraid of dentists, he will develop hatred towards them, and maybe towards all doctors.
4. Parents deceive the child, telling him phrases like "the doctor will only look", although in reality treatment is ahead. Such an act will cause distrust of parents and doctors.

So that the baby does not resist treatment, it is necessary to correctly approach the solution of the problem.

How to prepare a child for a trip to the dentist: effective methods

It is necessary to convince the child to treat his teeth correctly, it is important to prepare well for this. First of all, you should tell who the dentist is and what he does, but you do not need to do it strictly. It is also important to prevent babies from communicating with people who may talk about possible pain in the dental chair. It is better to use the advice of psychologists on how to treat teeth for babies even at 2 years old.

Games: fun introducing your kid to the dentist

Play is a way for children to learn about the environment, so the use of such technique allows not only to overcome fear, but also to set up for a repeat visit to the dental cabinet.

Parents can use the following play combinations:

• cure teeth plush toy or a doll: in this case, children should take turns with a toy in the role of a patient;
• sharing cartoonsin which children are treated for teeth;
• dental treatment for all family members, children should also act as doctors.

Games leave a positive impression of the procedure, and the dentist will not seem like a formidable doctor who can do harm.

Do not forget about our own example

One of the most effective methods is a parent's own example. To do this, you need to take the baby with you for an examination of the oral cavity. In this case, the adult must maintain a positive mood.

It will also be effective if, before the little patient sits in the dental chair, mom or dad in a playful way sits in the chair and the dentist examines his mouth. The parent should be in high spirits.

Other effective ways

If the child is afraid of the dentist, the following methods can be used:

1. Do trial trip to the dental clinic. To do this, parents must conduct an excursion and prove that there is nothing wrong with visiting a dentist.
2. To further reduce your fear of the dentist, you should regularly carry out preventive examinations the oral cavity by a specialist. For patients under 2 years of age, this is done once a year. Patients over the age of 2 years should come for an appointment every six months - this will help develop a habit and in case of illness there will be no fear of visiting a doctor.
3. If a tooth hurts suddenly, parents may tell a story where the main character is a bad toothwho needs urgent medical attention. In this case, one should not hide the actions that will be performed by the attending physician.

When visiting the doctor, you can distract the baby with interesting stories, while waiting for the doctor's appointment, children can take up drawing - this will reduce stress and create a positive attitude.

If a tantrum starts in the hospital

If you are hysterical while visiting the hospital, you need to calmly talk with the baby, you can promise a reward after visiting the doctor.

If a child does not allow teeth to be treated, you cannot shout at him and compare him with others - this will aggravate the situation.

You should always have your favorite toy or book with you, with which you can distract from people in white coats. To calm down the baby, you can tell an interesting story, where the main role is played by children who are not afraid of doctors.

The child may behave unexpectedly and at the dentist's appointment. If he cannot calm down, it is necessary to take him out of the office and divert attention from the topic of visiting the doctor. When he calms down, you can persuade him to see the doctor, while it is imperative to praise all the actions of the baby. This will help you feel confident and reduce your fear of the unknown.

What to do after: fix the result

After the first visit to the dentist, dad and mom should also behave correctly.

After leaving the hospital, no matter how the baby behaved, parents should praise him and emphasize how brave he was.

It is important to highlight the fact that nothing terrible happened during the treatment, and the teeth became strong and healthy. If the baby wants to express his opinion, this should not be hindered or argued.

Many children agree to visit the dentists if their parents promise to buy new things or a toy. After leaving the office, you must fulfill the promise, otherwise the next time this method of agreement will not help.

After visiting the dentist, you can go to the zoo or circus - this will help to cheer up. After returning home, it is important to tell family members how brave the children were during treatment.

Choosing a good specialist for our child

The choice of a dentist for your child must be approached with all responsibility, because a lot depends on him in the mood of the child and the effectiveness of treatment. When choosing a good pediatric dentist, the following should be considered:

1. Rating of the medical institution in which the specialist works. Professionals are in great demand, so clinics with a high standard should be chosen for babies.
2. The presence of a special room for the treatment of babies. In such offices, as a rule, there are special objects for distraction, and the interior of the room is more suitable for children.
3. Availability of modern equipment that will speed up the treatment process.
4. The dentist's ability to work with pediatric patients. An experienced doctor will be able to distract and interest the patient. He knows how to open the mouth of a child, conduct an examination and even how to cure the most serious problems in the mouth of restless patients. Reviews will help to evaluate the doctor from this side.
5. The specialist's desire to communicate with parents. It is very important to consider the politeness of the doctor in the conversation, as well as providing additional information about oral care.
6. Patient reviews. Before deciding on a clinic and a dentist, it is necessary to study reviews of both positive and negative nature.

For young patients, specialists should be chosen who conduct a playful examination method, which reduces stress and further eliminates the fear of dental treatment.

The video shows how some doctors treat teeth for young patients:

Dentist's recommendations for children, their dads and mothers

Children's teeth are very fragile and require special care. To treat them as rarely as possible, you need to follow simple recommendations:

• daily brush your teeth twice a day under the supervision of parents;
• monitor the quality of the products that are used: reduce the consumption of sweets, replacing this type of food with vegetables and fruits;
• develop the habit of rinsing your mouth after each meal;
• regularly inspect by a specialist;
• choose toothpaste according to the age of the baby;
• to increase level calcium in organism;
• examine the mouth for damage and plaque.

For school-age children, it is necessary to use dental floss and special mouthwash.

The problem with visiting the dentist arises in the life of every parent. To ensure that children are not afraid of such procedures in the future, it is necessary to provide correct preparation. Experience shows that after the first successful visit to the dental office, fear decreases its intensity and many babies are more willing to make contact.

2 educational cartoons for kids: