Key Takeaways
- The right dentist can help make your child’s visit fast and easy.
- Learn when it’s time to start taking your child to the dentist.
- There are strategies you and your dentist can use to keep kids calm during their visit.
- A variety of sedation methods are available if they’re required during the visit.
Are you reluctant to take your little one for a dental examination? It’s time to get ready – whether your child is one year old or ten, they are susceptible to dental-related issues.
The first primary teeth start to sprout when children are around six months old. When they’re around seven years old, they start losing their baby teeth, which are replaced by secondary, permanent teeth.
Dental care is required at each stage of tooth development for healthy teeth, mouth, and overall health. A dentist has the skills to help keep your child’s gums, teeth, and jaw as healthy as can be. Working with a dentist provides the best care and service for your child, and they’re devoted to children’s oral health from birth through adolescence.
Dental teams will have the necessary tools and strategies to keep your child calm and comfortable during the dental examination. They will also have the experience needed to care for your child’s mouth, teeth, and gums throughout their childhood stages and attend to your kid’s dental needs, from cavity prevention and bite development to dental care education and treatment for dental injuries.
Keep reading to discover when you should take your child for their first dental visit and the process for attending to kids at the dentist.
At What Age Do Children Go to the Dentist?
Experts recommend taking children for dental check-ups immediately after they start teething. This allows the dentist to examine the child’s teeth, gum, and jaw to check for defects, reducing the likelihood of future dental complications. Other areas covered by the dentist during the first dental visit include:
Dental Care Routine
Your dentist guides you on the procedure to adopt when cleaning your child’s teeth. You’ll learn how to floss and brush your children’s teeth to maintain their oral health, and the dentist will likely recommend fluoride toothpaste to help avoid tooth decay.
Kids’ Eating Habits
The dentist will likely advise on dental-friendly foods for your child. They will encourage you to feed your child calcium-rich foods such as yogurt, cheese, and milk to strengthen their tooth enamel. Other healthy foods for kids and their oral health include green vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
Use of Pacifiers
Most dentists will advise limiting your child’s use of pacifiers starting at two years of age and avoiding the use of pacifiers entirely at three years. Prolonged use of pacifiers exposes your child to a host of dental problems, including crooked teeth, overbites, and underbites.
Regular Dental Visits
Your children should have a dental examination twice a year. This enables the dentist to identify any developmental problems in their dentition. The frequent visits also build confidence and comfort in your children by familiarizing them with their dentist.
Adopting preventive dentistry throughout your child’s life goes beyond protecting them against gum diseases and cavities – it extends to giving your child healthy teeth and a stunning smile.
Strategies to Keeping Kids Calm at the Dentist
Most parents find it difficult to calm their anxious kids at the dentist. A dentist with proper experience and expertise will be well-equipped to make your child comfortable and calm throughout their exam. They use the following strategies, among others, to keep your child at ease throughout the visit:
Adopting Kid-Friendly Language and Tools
Using kid-friendly words enables your child to better relate to and understand complicated dental procedures and equipment. Your dentist may use a drain straw instead of a suction tool or a squirt gun instead of a water sprayer, for example, creating a fun, comfortable environment and positive connection with the dentist to help calm your child.
Creating a Comfortable Environment
Many dentists may furnish their waiting area with games and toys to keep your child relaxed and occupied while waiting to be attended to. They understand that a friendly and calm environment helps your child relax and helps them feel calm and comfortable during their check-up.
Explaining All Procedures
Your child’s dentist can help reduce stress by talking them through each session step by step. Kids become anxious if they don’t understand what the dentist is going to do next. Children are more likely to be relaxed throughout the procedure if they know what’s coming next.
Sedation may be used in some cases if the child is particularly nervous or scared. The dentist may recommend this strategy if none of the methods work to calm your child during their visit.
Types of Sedation Used for Children in Dentistry
Most dental procedures require your child to remain in a specific position for minutes, sometimes even an hour or more. Sedation may be used to reduce your child’s uneasiness, and dentists may also use pain medication along with sedatives to help your child endure painful treatments. Some of the safe sedatives used by dentists include:
Nitrous Oxide
Is nitrous oxide at the dentist safe for children? This sedative, sometimes referred to as laughing gas, is mild and safe to use to help keep your child calm throughout their procedure. The nitrous oxide is mixed with oxygen and administered through a mask. This mixture takes effect in around 5 minutes, and your child remains awake but generally unaware of the procedure.
Intravenous Sedation
This type of sedation uses a needle to inject the sedative directly into your kid’s veins, typically in their hand or arm. IV sedation is advantageous as the dentist is free to increase the amount of medication if the procedure takes longer than expected.
Oral Sedation
The dentist administers this sedative via the nose or the mouth. Oral sedatives relax kids by making them feel drowsy.
Your child’s dentist will help guide you on the best sedation method to calm your child. The type of sedation will also depend, in part, on the dental procedure being performed. It’s important for you to understand why a specific method is chosen, so be sure to ask any questions or voice any concerns you may have.
Let The Dental Team Attend to Your Child
Are you searching for a dentist to attend to all your child’s dental needs without referring you to other practices? Finding a practice that offers care for children – like The Dental Team – is the best solution.
We treat all your child’s dental-related issues. Our dentists use kid-friendly techniques to help children remain calm and comfortable throughout their dental procedures. Contact us to book an appointment!
