The early years are really important when building a long-term healthy relationship between your child and the dentist. It can be very easy to slip into negative language around the dentist, and this can cause long-term harm to your children’s health, as a lot of cases relating to dental anxiety actually begin in the early years. So how do you avoid falling into the negative cycle? This blog talks you through all you need to build a positive atmosphere between your dentist Nottingham and your child.
Top tips for a happy child at the dentist
It is really important when starting this journey that you first take time to acknowledge the type of relationship you have with your dentist in Nottingham. Are you suffering from some form of dental anxiety or even dental phobia? Or are you just someone who has had a bad experience previously and never taken the time to mentally heal from it? Whatever the reasons may be, it is really important that you take ownership of your feelings towards the dentist so as to not project your feelings onto your children. Little people are, as you’re probably aware, little sponges, and they are quick to pick up on all our worries and can very easily make our worries their own.
What image of the dentist is being presented to them through the media? Often dental clinics can be portrayed as scary places through cartoons, films and even the news, so being aware of the picture and connotations of the dentist being built up for your child is quite important too. If you are worried that your children are beginning to absorb a negative viewpoint, then try and take a more active approach to what they are consuming or change the narrative yourself, which brings us to point three.
Next, try and make your dentist in Nottingham part of a fun play. You can practice going to the dentist together and even get your children to do practice runs of checking all your teeth. Make all the language surrounding dental checkups positive, happy and more about a trip to look after their precious bodies.
Finally, don’t use bribery as a form of getting your children to the dentist. It can be really tempting to offer treats and sweets if they just sit in the chair and don’t get upset. However, by doing this, you’re giving them the narrative that dental checkups are something they have to suffer through to be rewarded for, automatically making it a negative.
Easier said than done
Of course, all of the above sounds great in theory, but you’re probably a busy parent just trying to get through the next job of the day without someone throwing their toys out the pram. But trying to start your children out on a happy step when beginning their oral health journey will likely pay dividends in years to come, especially if your children are in need of orthodontic treatment as they enter their adolescent years.
