Tips for Your Child's First Visit

Follow these steps to make your child feel more at ease for his or her first dental visit.

Try to bring your child to the dentist as young as possible, that way they will get more comfortable with the visits.

Try and be obscure when telling your child about the dentist and what will be done at the appointment. Leave it to the dentist to sugar coat the procedures he will be performing.

Before heading to the dentist don’t use words like shots, pain, or hurt. The misconception that the dentist is scary has been around forever, use positive phrases like strong and healthy to make the dentist seem less scary.

Role play with your child before you go to the dentist. Do some activities such as counting each tooth by number or letter to give them a feel for what the dentist might do. Teach your child how to brush appropriately as well.

There are a ton of kid friendly TV shows like Dora the Explorer, or Sponge-Bob Square Pants that have episodes about visiting the dentist. Watching these with your child can help relieve them from any fears they may have. There are also books with similar content you can read together.

If you can, avoid bringing your son or daughter to your own dentist appointment. Kids dental offices are designed to look much friendlier than an adults. Your child may get the wrong impression and be afraid.

Last but not least, teach your child that visiting the dentist is not a choice, it is a necessity. They will thank you in the future.

For great pediatric and orthodontic dental care visit the Woodbridge Kids Dentistry