One of the most important steps to creating a solid oral health foundation is starting off with a strong basis as a child. We also know that going to the dentist can be a scary time for a child, which is why our team will work hard to ensure that your child leaves with a positive experience and healthy teeth and gums!
At Fairhaven Dental we work hard to make the trip as relaxing as possible – from TVs with Netflix to distract from procedures and drown out scary noises, to making sure that all visits end on a good note with our treasure tower of prizes, we aim to make each visit go as smoothly as possible.
Pain Relief for Children’s Teeth
On occasion, a child will need some pain relief during their visit. Depending on the situation we might have to use a freezing treatment, the same as with adults. This will see the use of a topical anesthetic to numb gums, followed by local anesthetic to freeze deeper tissues and teeth so that the procedure can take place with no pain for your child.
Pain relief following regular appointments is generally not necessary. In the case of an extraction the pain can usually be managed with a children’s Tylenol or Advil.
Common Child Oral Health Concerns
The key to oral health concerns in children is to monitor and be preventative when possible. One of the biggest concerns parents often have is the spacing or crowding of teeth in a child’s mouth. We will monitor your child’s teeth on their visits to determine if early intervention is required or if there only needs to be continued monitoring.
Another common concern is regarding the use of bottles, pacifiers/soothers or thumb sucking. These habits are recommended to be curbed by the age of three, in order to prevent permanent changes to the jaw, or creating issues with tooth spacing or crowding.
General oral health concerns are best combated by instilling early on the importance of brushing twice a day and daily flossing in order to keep your child’s pearly whites smiling. Until they have the motor coordination where they can tie their own shoelaces, parents should help monitor and assist their brushing and flossing to ensure a proper job is done.
We’re Dentists but We’re Parents Too
We’re parents too – we understand that the dentist is a scary place with weird noises, bright lights and strange people poking into your child’s mouth. But with how important oral health is, it is equally important to help your child get over their fears of visiting the dentist.
One of the biggest and easiest things you can do for your child is to speak positively about the dentist at home. Your child might hear about the dentist being scary from various media and friends, but if you keep your tone positive regarding the dentist it will go a long way to assuring your child that their visit will be okay.
Talking about what the visit will entail, practicing how a dentist will look in your child’s mouth, and helping them understand what the dentist will do will help to calm any fears ahead of time. Something simple like reading a book about visiting the dentist, such as The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist, can do a lot to demystify the dentist and take away the fear of the unknown.
Here’s Dr. Josh Kirkpatrick talking about when to take your kids for their first dental visit.
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