The first unsuccessful visit of a child to the dentist can result in the fact that he will be afraid to treat his teeth and visit the dental office all his life. Therefore, it is important to prepare the baby for the visit so that only positive emotions remain in his memory.
The first visit to the dentist should take place at about 2-3 years. The visit may be for informational purposes only. Before him, it is advisable to set the child up for the fact that it will be interesting and exciting.
You can start preparing with stories or fairy tales. Chukovsky's Aybolit is a good example. By analogy with him, you can tell the child about a kind doctor who heals children and relieves them of carious monsters (or other creatures, depending on the imagination of the parents). Monsters themselves are harmless, but they build houses that destroy the baby's teeth. Only a kind doctor knows how to drive away these monsters and make your teeth healthy and beautiful again.
In the next step, you can play with your child as a dentist and a patient. Even dressing gowns, hats and masks will come in handy so that the image of the dentist is already familiar to the child and does not frighten him. You can reproduce the examination procedure so that the baby learns to open his mouth and does not experience discomfort. Remember to keep toys that look like dental instruments clean. A child can be both a patient and a dentist who needs to cure the teeth of a toy.
You can also use a game to teach your toddler how to brush his teeth. In this case, the brush will help drive away the tooth monsters, and the paste will help her in this.
Any stories and conversations about the doctor should completely exclude the word "pain". A visit to the dentist is a simple examination, the tools are only used to find the pest and drive it away or get it out. If you mention that it won't hurt, the word “pain” will be remembered first of all, and not its absence.
Another trick will be a gift that the doctor will give the baby after the examination and procedures. Of course, the parents will buy the gift, but the baby will not know about it. The gift will become a kind of reward for helping the doctor in a difficult fight against carious villains.
Arriving at the hospital, the child may see crying children near the office, saying that they are in pain. It is also necessary to prepare the baby for this situation, but not in advance, but in front of the office and only if he sees a crying child. Again, you can come up with a story that the bad monsters got angry and began to bite, which is why they must be chased away.
It is good if the reception of the child will take place in a friendly atmosphere and without haste, but this depends on the doctor. Parents, in this case, can only take advantage of doctors' reviews and exclude a doctor who can cause a negative reaction in the baby with his behavior.
At the reception, you need to be with the child, hold his hand, and if the baby is very small, then you can sit in a chair with him, holding him in your arms.
When choosing a doctor, you need to take into account the reviews about him, and having found the ideal dentist in your opinion, it is not recommended to change him unnecessarily in the future.
To make visits to the dentist less likely to require complex and painful manipulations, you need to remember that they should be regular, as well as care for your teeth and gums. In this case, the teeth will be healthy, and visits to the dentist in adulthood will not be postponed until the last moment.
