A tricky issue (Taking your child to the dentist)

Member Name: Squiddly450

Product:	Taking your child to the dentist
Date:	27/02/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can set them up for life and very worthwhile

Disadvantages: Not easy to forget your own experiences

I first thought of writing this review when I read an article on MSE. I haven't treated children for quite some time now but I'm sure I will before too long and I can certainly remember the little darlings!

One of the problems with dentistry is that in the 60's, 70's and 80's, a lot of dentistry was done. Much of this may have been done by "old school" dentists who were taught little about pain relief and patient management. This is by no means the case all of the time but is certainly a recurring theme. This era is also when NHS dentistry encouraged the "drill and fill" culture that so many people remember.

Fast forward 30/40 years and many of the people who went in the chair during the aforementioned period are parents of young children. Children are enormously perceptive and pick up on even the tiniest suggestions that something might be in store for them. Case in point:

Mum: We're going to the dentist, you can have a MacDonalds later
Child: Thinks *why will I get a treat after this then? It must be something nasty*

This is a classic case of a parent projecting their preconceptions onto their child, it is so easily done and I do it myself with my stepdaughter but it explains why children are scared of something that they have never experienced. Remember, fear is a taught emotion.

Have you ever told your kids about the bogeyman? I don't have my own children and have no first hand experience of bringing up children under the age of 13 but I would imagine that it's fun to tell them a story that's a little bit scary? Case in point:

Dad: You've got to have a filling
Child: How do they do a filling?
Dad: They stick a massive needle in your mouth and drill out your tooth (possibly embellished by drill noises and actions)
Child: Thinks *that doesn't sound like fun*

I'm all for being honest and teaching children about the wider world and what to expect etc etc. However, these days, dentists can administer anaesthetic painlessly, they can carry out a technique called ART (atraumatic restorative technique) without using drills, and dental practices are pretty much child friendly places. If your child needs a filling, or dental treatment, ideally you could leave it to the dentist to give an explanation. Otherwise, try not to use emotive words and phrases like "don't worry, it won't hurt", "be brave", "injection", "needle", "drill" etc etc.... you get the picture.

All of these can plant seeds of doubt in a child's mind, leading to them growing up as a dental phobic for no good reason.

One of the most difficult times I had when treating children was with an autistic boy, he was delightful and very intelligent. His mother was also lovely but very very protective. The first appointment they had with me, she just talked and talked to the point where I could barely speak to my patient. After I gained their confidence, they would arrive together and then she would leave to go shopping whilst we got on with the task at hand. Perfect. Try not to be too protective over your children if at all possible, they will grow in confidence enormously if you feel you can leave them in the surgery by themselves. Clearly this depends a lot on your child and their age etc.

I remember the second most difficult small person I treated. A beautiful eight year old girl with blonde hair down to her waist. She came in, in tears because of her toothache. The tooth, which had an abscess was a baby tooth and I'm afraid I couldn't fix it. She sat in the chair like an angel while we gave her some local anaesthetic. Then, as we told her we were going to give her tooth a wobble, she was out of the chair like a rabbit from a trap. In her mind, the toothache had gone away so there was no way on earth she was going to let some dentist pull it out. I tried to explain what would happen if she didn't let us take it out, her parents tried bribing her, tears, tantrums but this young lady was adamant we weren't doing anything.

Well, I thought to myself, we casn't make her have it done and off they went. The next day, in the faily came again, this young lady sat in my chair and said "please take my tooth out". Perfect. I learnt a valuable lesson that day, and I think her parents did too.

In essence, what I think I'm trying to say in this part is, you may hate going to the dentist for a perfectly valid reason. Please try your very best not to give this phobia/hatred to your children. There are some amazing children's dentists out there (I'm not one of them and I'll happily admit that), and there is no reason in this day and age for children to grow up afraid.

Lots of my patients ask what age they should take their children to the dentist. There is no rule, personally I wouldn't examine a child under three however, if you are going to the dentist and you can take a friend, relative older sibling with you, then bring them in to the surgery so the young un can get used to it. As long as you're not leaving them crawling around the floor on their own, most dentists will think that's great.

I will now discuss the final case I have in my armoury. I treated a boy of 9, he had caries (decay) in all of his teeth so we started fixing them. At his third appointment, I found that his caries rate was so high, the fillings I did six weeks ago were falling out! I explained this to his mum and she shouted at him: "I TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT SUGAR ON YOUR CORNFLAKES".

I thought, hold on a minute, where does he get the sugar from? It's not his fault that he doesn't know what's bad for him. Maybe you don't know what's bad for him either but please don't blame him! I'm not suggesting for a minute that any good dooyooer would do this but maybe we could spread the good word.

As I said before, I haven't treated children for nearly three years but the time I have spent is firmly etched on my memory!

It's a difficult thing to do, make your child undergo an experience that terrifies you. Like I mentioned before, invest in their future by not making them scared for the rest of their lives. My only aim in this is to help educate people and hopefully, make some small improvement, even if it's just to one person's dental experience.

Summary: Try your very best not to let them become scared