Many kids often experience dental anxiety when going to the dentist. This may be because many children associate dentist appointments with having to experience uncomfortability and pain. The reality of it is that dentist appointments may not be painful, but they can be uncomfortable. No one wants to willingly have someone prodding around their mouth with sharp looking tools. It can definitely scare anyone, even adults who attend dentist appointments on a regular basis. In order for children to want to attend their dentist appointments, they have to view these appointments as a fun outing and not a life or death situation. In order to encourage your children to have a better experience at the dentist, you have to make it fun for them.
According to NCBI.gov, studies have shown that there are about 74.1 percent of children facing moderate to severe dental anxiety. This number is significantly high for any age group to experience dental anxiety. The fear mostly comes from having to experience pain. No one wants to experience pain in their mouth especially when it has to do with another person being blamed for causing the pain. Children associate dentist with pain because of prior experiences or fearful thoughts that they just fear in general of the dentist. The downfall to dental anxiety is that it causes children to suffer. Their overall dental health tends to deteriorate, and they begin to cause more damage to their teeth due to a lack of dental care. Many times, children attend their dentist appointments and they are forced to have to stop because of the intense anxiety they experience.
According to Parents.com, there are many things that you can do as a parent to help your child overcome their anxiety and fears with dentist appointments. Some of the things that are important to do is to make sure you start dental care with them early so that they are used to it and become comfortable. You should also keep it simple and try not to discuss too much about what the dentist will be doing. This is usually where their fears start to build up and their imagination goes to work. Play pretend dental visits so that your child can be familiar of what will happen and will not feel the need to feel worried because they have already been there, done that. You can make it fun and be silly with your child, so that you child can associate fun with going to the dentist. Lastly, you should work closely with your dentist to work together in helping your child overcome their dental anxiety. You can search the web for: pediatric dental clinic Burnsville MN. From here you should get a list of pediatric dentists you can call to see what they can offer to help you and your child.
Overall, dental anxiety can be difficult to deal with for both you and your child. It is important to support your child in overcoming this disadvantage. You have to look at it from your child’s perspective and how your child feels about the situation. Be patient and take time to do what you can to make going to the dentist a fun experience.
