Many factors can contribute to a child’s fear of the dentist. On top of that list is a bad experience at a previous dental appointment. The younger the age, the higher likelihood that a child will have a fear of the dentist. It has even been shown that parents can pass along their own fear of the dentist. Children are very perceptive and can sense that a parent is stressed when talking about a dental visit. I employ a number of techniques to help allay a child’s fear. We have TV’s in the ceiling with cartoons playing which helps distract the child. Just something as simple as using a gentle, friendly voice and a smile can also put the child at ease. The “tell-show-do” technique works great. I tell them about the “water sprayer” that will flush out all of the “cavity bugs”, then I will take the dental hand piece and spray water on their hand so that they can see that there is nothing to fear. Then, for the “do”, I touch the anesthetized tooth which produces a gentle vibration so that they can see that there is no pain. And speaking of the numbing process, they are never shown the needle. They just get a little “pinch” to put the tooth to sleep. By employing just a few simple techniques can greatly reduce a child’s fear of the dentist and make it a pleasant experience.
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Tips to Overcome One’s Fear of the Dentist
There are many ways to overcome one’s fear of the dentist. First of all, don’t wait until the tooth hurts. It makes it more difficult for the dentist to get you numb. Plus the pain leading up to the appointment can be associated with the dental visit itself. The dental appointment itself is really nothing to be fearful of as long as good local anesthetic technique is used to numb the area. Try to get a good night’s sleep and avoid caffeinated drinks that could raise the anxiety level. For the novocaine injection, try to relax your muscles, especially your hands. Try this the next time you are in rush hour traffic and notice that your hands are tightly clasped to the steering wheel, consciously relax your grip and notice how the rest of your body will follow suit. Another trick is to find something on the ceiling to fixate on. We have televisions in our ceiling. This way patients can either watch cable TV or a serene aquarium movie to help keep their mind on things other than the injection. By flooding one’s brain with visual stimuli and concentrating on relaxing the hands, the anesthetic injection experience can be minimized greatly. Once the initial numbness has been achieved, further injections can be done relatively pain free. The remainder of the appointment should be a piece of cake and should be fear free.