Warren Dentist Gives Tips on How to Prepare Children for the Dentist

Warren Dentist, Dr. Greg Apsey gives tips on how to prepare children for the dentist. Taking your child to the dentist is necessary to keep their teeth healthy and encourage good oral hygiene. Although from a child’s viewpoint, sometimes a trip to the dentist often seems a little scary to them, especially if it is their first visit. So to help ease your child’s mind for future dentist visits, follow this advice recommended by Warren Dentist, Dr. Greg Apsey and your little one will feel more comfortable and relaxed, plus their next dental visit will be an excellent one!

How to keep your child from feeling anxious about the dentist:

• Start young the earlier a child visits the dentist, the better. This will help them develop good habits at an early age and create a “dental home” for them to feel comfortable with, so that all of their needs will be taken care of, whether it is routine check-ups or preventative treatments. Their first visit should at least by age two, but can even start as early as age one.
• Keep it simple when preparing for a visit, especially the first one, talk to them about what to expect, but try not to include too many details and keep a positive attitude. Be truthful and speak in simple terms that they will understand and better relate to. Use positive phrases like clean, strong, healthy teeth to make the visit seem fun and good. You can tell your child that the dentist is going to check their smile and count their teeth.
• Be careful with your words; don’t say threatening words. Never use the words drill, shot, hurt or pain with them. Let the dentist introduce their own vocabulary that will help them feel more comfortable and better understand what is happening each step of the way. Our favorite here is to tell them that we will be looking for “sugar bugs,” so that we can clean them off their teeth, if we find any.   
• Encourage good oral hygiene; teach your child that visiting the dentist is a necessity and that the dentist is only there to make sure they have a beautiful smile and take care of their teeth so that they are strong enough to eat. A practical, positive attitude and good example from you will set the tone for what your child should expect for the rest of their lives to maintain good oral health.

Warren Dentist Gives Tips on How to Prepare Children for the Dentist the First Time

Warren Dentist, Dr. Apsey suggests that early, frequent visits to the dentist are better. The more often a dentist sees your children, the more they can talk with them to help them feel more comfortable with the dentist. Generally in the beginning before we even do anything with children at our office, we recommend very simple, quick visits to help children feel more comfortable and see what a dentist office is all about. We offer a fun experience by giving them a ride up and down in the chair, showing them the tools we will use, before we use them, and even let them enjoy playing with the water squirter and suction. We always want to keep dentistry fun for our kids!

At our Warren Dentist office, we make every effort to have our child patients love to come visit us. That means, we keep it fun and help them feel comfortable by talking with them throughout the appointment and explain really well in terms that they can understand and will not be afraid of.

If your child does need treatment with us, here is an idea of how we will help prepare them.

“We will make your tooth go to sleep with sleepy medicine. We will put sleepy medicine on your gums and then later, sleepy medicine goes under your gums. After that, you will have a strange feeling in your mouth. Your lip and maybe even your tongue will feel fat. Little “sugar bugs” have built a home inside your tooth and we have to clean them out because it is not good to have bugs in your mouth, especially in your tooth. Mr. Whistle (drill) and his assistant, Mr. Thirsty (suction) will help to swallow up all the bugs and send them down underneath the street in the sewer. Once all the “sugar bugs” are gone, we will put a ring around your tooth, put the pretty white filling in, and shine a bright light on it to make it hard.”

Warren Dentist Gives Tips on How to Prepare Children for the Dentist to Prevent Anxiety

We take all the time that we need with children at our Warren Dentist office, encouraging them throughout, so that it will make them feel at ease. Parents are always welcome to join their children in our rooms. We only do white fillings in children. Very few children need nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for appointments, but it is available as needed. If you are looking for a comfortable dental experience for your children, call our Warren Dentist office at 586-573-7700 to schedule a visit with Dr. Greg Apsey.