Anyway, we arrived at the appointment not exactly sure what to expect. The waiting room had plenty of toys and we were greeted by friendly staff members. Mate played with the girls while I filled out more than my fair share of paperwork. We were called back to a bright, cheerful exam room. Cartoons played on mounted televisions and everyone was dressed in purple. Is it bad that I immediately thought of Justin Bieber? His favorite color is purple...I shouldn't know that...how embarrassing. Back to our appointment. Ava went first and cried quite loudly. Thankfully, the dentist was great and worked quickly. Ava's tooth does have some missing enamel, but shouldn't cause any problems as long as we brush it well. We're not sure if the tooth came in that way or if she chipped it on something. Regardless, we'll be keeping an eye on it.
Mia went next and cried less than her sister had. It's always easier to go second, right? Both girls were given princess rubber ducks and disney toothbrushes. We made appointments for six months later and were on our way. I'm definitely an advocate for pediatric dentist offices after our visit today.
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| They weren't upset when we left, but it sure looks that way |
It's very normal for kids to cry at the dentist. In our office, parents can get pretty embarrassed by this. Rest assured that it is NORMAL behavior! It is also common for little ones to get through the first few visits and then FLIP out on the dentist around age 4. Again, this is normal because the fear of the unknown peaks at age 4 and so they become shy and cautious for awhile.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of advice...
Going to the dentist really isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be. In other words, we work our tails off to make dental visits fun for kids (and adults). Unfortunately, the problem lies with what mean Uncle Guido and Cousin Cletus say to small kids about the dentist. Lots of children walk into our office for the first time TERRIFIED of us. That behavior was NOT learned from us or our office! I always advise parents to never plant seeds of fear in the kids.
Don't EVER say things like, "Be brave! Don't be afraid!" Those seemingly simple statements end up worrying the child. "What do I have to be brave about? What do I have to be afraid about?" Make sense?
You wouldn't BELIEVE the things I've heard parents say and do to their kids in our office. We had an 10 year old boy in 2 weeks ago and he needed to have 2 extractions. His dad told him we were going to hit him in the head with a hammer! The kid flipped out! Thanks a lot dad! Now my job just became ridiculously difficult, because I'M the one who is going to have to pull out some serious behavioral management tricks out of my sleeve.
To those who have kids....
NEVER EVER EVER talk about how 'scary' the dentist is! The fact is that he ISN'T scary! It's usually the patient's (or parents) perception that is off. If you REALLY want your child to do well, talk about how fun everything is going to be and about the cool prizes that your kid will get at the end!!!!!
I could go on and on (and on and on) about this topic...but I'll get off my soapbox for now!
Glad to hear that they had a successful appointment!
Awesome advice, Missy! I have 3 kids and we always talk about how nice Dr. Joe and Charlie (our hygienist) are and how great it feels to have clean teeth. We definitely play it up as a good thing because we're keeping our teeth healthy and strong. It really irks me when I hear people (esp. family members) say negative things about the dentist. I suppose people have had bad experiences with dentists, but I guess I've been lucky to have always had good experiences so I've never thought of the dentist as a bad or scary thing at all. I really do love the feel of clean teeth and I always looked forward to that as a kid. I think I must be super weird. : )
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