Tips for Making the First Dental Visit of Your Child a Success

If you are a parent of toddlers or young children, you may have to take the child to the dentist for the first time, however, if you are nervous about the visit or if you are dreading that your child may show resistance to going, following are the tips to help you with the dental visit of your child. Similarly, the concern related to the teeth whitening kit can also be resolved if you successfully take the child to the dentist.

Dental Check-Up Visit

It is okay if you have doubts regarding the first visit of your child to the dentist. There are many like you, but the good news is that experts’ opinion can be used to help you with this dilemma.  Even though the parents will be occupied with all kinds of ‘first’ if it is the first child, but if you follow the guidelines, the decision-making process will get convenient for you. Mostly, the first visit of the child is associated with the first birthday or when the child starts to show the signs of a new or first tooth.  If you go to the good dentist, the complete dental check-up of the child may be carried out to assess the oral or dental hygiene. In the first few months, the gums are quite soft in children, in addition to the sensitive jaw bone. Therefore, if you do not consult a dentist, the complications may increase for the child.

In some of the cases, children can get older than the toddler stage without having to go to the dentist for various reasons. For example, the kid may not need or the condition of the dental health is so good that it keeps them away from going or consulting a dentist. However, if the child has grown up and he/she may need to visit the dentist, remember that there is no right time to take the initiative.

If you believe that there is an age for brushing the teeth, you are wrong because most of the dentist believe that children should start cleaning the teeth right after the first teeth appears in the mouth. The main point is to introduce them to the concept of oral hygiene and you may not consider it important, but this is the time when your kid will develop good habits if you let them to work on it. There are special toothpastes available for the small children which are less strong than the regular one. In addition, you can guide the children to brush teeth from all sides in order to ensure that they learn the different techniques.

Talk about Teeth

The idea of maintaining oral health is probably one of the most important topics parents are expected to bring up to the children whenever all the family members sit together to talk about things. If you open the floor for questions, children will get to clear the doubts and problems they have in mind in order to grasp the concepts and how can they maintain good oral health habits. Similarly, if the child has started going to the school or play group, you can request the administration to arrange interactive sessions for the children to underline the value of going to the dentist and other aspects of oral health. The best thing about school is that children often learn more things from there than the environment at home. In some cases, children show a better response to the ideas of maintaining oral health at school. For instance, the models of teeth and information on the various parts of the teeth will make it interesting for the children to learn and understand all the preaching you try to do at home in terms of the words or lectures.

Practice

Though children are taught in general the hygiene practices, however, if the aspect of oral health is not mentioned, children may struggle to incorporate the habit of brushing teeth or cleaning the mouth in the later stages of life. This is why group activity may help in the regard in terms of making it easy for children to conceptualize it. The main point is that if the children are not responsive to the traditional style of teaching, you try the alternative methods. Moreover, parents will be expected to supervise the children, especially if they are not young enough to understand the concept of a toy and tool in the real sense because some of the children start treating toothbrush as the toy. This is not to say that it will be easy to change the minds of the little ones, but if you remain persistent, all your efforts and concern may yield the results.

In addition, if you are ready to try all the options, you can make up songs to outline the significance of brushing the teeth so that children will be able to internalize it. This is not to say that it will be successful, however, if the traditional methods are not working, the concept of oral health in form of rhyming words in an appealing format may facilitate you in convincing the child. If you are worried that you may not be able to come up with the catchy song to reach out to your child, you can search online websites that may have educational songs for the children.

Attitude towards Hygiene

It is often overlooked that children are quite responsive to colors and sounds around them, especially when children are young. This means that your attitude towards oral hygiene may play a role in persuading the child. For instance, if you are not good at maintaining good oral hygiene routines and you are struggling to achieve the dental health goals, it may send the wrong message to your child. Therefore, you will have to come up with strategies which will be visually exciting for the children. For example, special toothpaste in bright colors and the toothbrushes for the starter may make the job easier.

Dental Office

The overall attitude is pertinent in introducing any good habit in the house and this applies to the parents as well. In simple words, if you go to the dentist regularly, you can expect the children to follow your lead. Moreover, your attitude in terms of looking at the dentist in the positive and grateful manner is another key. For instance, if you highlight in the house the positive results of your last visit, it may also make the desired impact on children.