At Dr. Niles’ office we love seeing kids! It is our goal to make dental visits as enjoyable and non-traumatic as possible. At the child’s first visit, we want to get them comfortable in the dental chair and do minimally invasive procedures (cleanings, x-rays, fluoride treatments, etc). If the child is in need of more dental work, we generally like to begin this at the next visit. In order to prevent dental phobias, it is very important that parents work with us to calm, prepare and relax their child before needle pokes and drills are involved. It helps a lot if parents explain to their kids that they have a tooth that needs to be fixed and in order to fix it, the dentist will put their tooth to sleep. Parents should let their child know that to put the tooth to sleep, they will feel a pinch, but then their tooth will be asleep and it won’t hurt. Please do not use terms related to needle, injection or shot. It is very important that parents work with us to prepare their child in a psychologically friendly way.
Our office utilizes several techniques to make children get comfortable. These techniques include tell-show-do, reassuring voice control, nitrous oxide and positive reinforcement. If we feel that a child is too anxious or cannot calm down enough to get the work done in a non-traumatic way, we will refer the child to a pediatric dental specialist. These specialists may want to put the child to sleep in a hospital setting allowing all dental work to be completed in one visit. For the well being of the child, our office will discontinue dental care and refer to a specialist if the child demonstrates any of the following:
- Uneasiness, anxiety and fearful expressions
- Crying
- Screaming
- Uncontrolled movements
Many of these behaviors can be prevented with proper preparation by the parents. Please, try to avoid talking about previous negative dental experiences around your child. We make every effort to provide pediatric dental care in a general dental setting to control the cost of dental care to parents. But, it is our responsibility to ensure that the child does not become traumatized. Early dental trauma results in poor oral health throughout life. Please help us to prevent dental phobias in your child.