First Dental Visit Coming Up? Read this first!!
Preparing your Child for their First Dental Visit
If you’re an anxious patient, you may be anxious about your child’s first dental visit. It’s difficult to avoid passing on your phobias to your child – luckily, we’re here to help.
If you have any questions or concerns at all, please simply get in touch now.
First a few tips about taking your child to the dentist for the first time:
· Don’t mention pain. Instead talk about the positive aspects like healthy teeth and gums
· Do prepare them for what will happen by reading them stories and discussing the tools a dentist uses. Tell them about the uber cool chair!
· Do make a game of opening your mouth very wide and show them how you can see all the way to their back teeth
· Encourage your child to look at her teeth and to count them
· Do book in for a suitable time in your child’s routine to avoid them being overly tired at the time of the appointment
· Book a check-up first. We don’t want to do anything that may be upsetting on their first visit to the dentist!
Jack’s First Trip to the Dentist – A Social Story
Social stories are “fictional stories” around a child’s experience. They’re recommended by Paediatric Occupational Therapists to help children to understand situations around them in a familiar way. One of our young patients agreed to let us tell his story about his first dental visit. Please use this to prepare your child for what will happen when it’s their turn.
This is a story about a boy named Jack. Jack was excited to be leaving daycare and heading to big kid kindy.
His mum said “Jack, if you’re going to be a big kid, you’d better do what big kids do”
Jack asked “What do big kids do?”
His mum said “Well, big kids tidy their rooms, share with their bay sisters, take out the garbage and they go to the dentist.”
“Well”, said Jack, I don’t like those things. I pick going to the dentist.”
Mum and Jack practiced opening their mouths very, very wide. They counted their teeth and made ridiculous faces.
Mum had a tooth with a filling in it. She said that she had to get a filling because she didn’t brush her teeth enough. Jack brushed his teeth very carefully – mum was very impressed.
The next day Jack was very excited. Only big kids go to the dentist. His mum left his baby sister at daycare and Jack went to the dentist. Babies can’t go to the dentist. Only big kids.
When they arrived there was a crazy dental nurse who said that Jack could play with any of the toys he wanted while he waited. There were lots of toys. Jack was excited. Nobody told him there were toys.
When it was his turn, the dentist asked Jack to come into his room. There was a big chair, some lights, and some metal things that looked like Transformer tools. Jack was very impressed. The dentist told him to sit in the chair and gave him some cool glasses and a paper bib. “But only babies wear bibs” Jack said.
“This is a special bib only for big kids” said the dentist.
The dentist then played a little trick on Jack. He moved the chair up and down, back and forward! Jack laughed. It was like the ride at the supermarket. Then the dentist let Jack have a turn. It was awesome. Only big kids could move a whole magic chair!
Then the dentist took out the coolest water pistol ever. It was a special squirt gun that the dentist uses in your mouth. The dentist even let Jack have a turn and jack sprayed him right in the chest!
Finally it was time for Jack to get his teeth checked. He was a bit nervous but was also proud that he was a big, brave kid. The dentist put his chair back and got him to open his mouth very wide. The dentist looked at all his teeth to make sure there were no cavities.
“Wow” said the dentist, “you must be good at brushing your teeth, they’re perfect. You really are a big kid”
Jack was very proud. The dentist said he was a big kid and he knew that babies definitely couldn’t brush their teeth well. While mum paid, he even got to play with the toys again.
“Mum” said Jack, “if I share with my baby sister, and clean my room, and take out the garbage, can I come back to the dentist tomorrow?”
Mum was so proud of Jack that they stopped off at the park together and had a big play, just mum and her big, big kid.
Book your child’s first dental appointment
We go to great lengths to ensure your child’s first dental visit is a positive, relaxing one. We’re here to inspire great oral health for life, and that includes helping your child to feel confident about going to the dentist. Talk to us now to arrange a dental visit for your “ big kid”