The Importance of Health Checks

Tips to Help Ease Your Child's Fear of the Dental Clinic

14 November 2019 by Roberta Craig

Fear of dentists is perfectly normal among children, and there are ways to help children ease it. Parents typically have a big influence on their children. As a parent, you have a big role to play in ensuring that your children's trips to the dental clinic aren't a source of stress and anxiety for them.

There are a variety of things you should and shouldn't do to help your child to manage dental phobia. Here are a few important things you should know about.

Don't Show Your Child Your Fear of Dentists

While fear of dentists is a common problem among children, some adults also have this problem. Adults that develop dental phobia typically develop the problems during their childhood years. If your fear of the dentist as a child has continued into your adult life, then you should try as much as possible to avoid instilling the same fear into your child.

Don't talk about your horror experiences at the dental clinic in front of your little one. They will probably get terrified at the thought of seeing the dentist. The problem with parents that are suffering from dental phobia is that they may subconsciously pass on their fear of the dentist to their child.

Therefore, it is important to seek out a professional to help you ease your fear of the dentist.

Take Your Child to a Children-Friendly Dentist

There are many dental clinics across Australia, and they are not all created equal. Dentists know that the needs of individuals and households are not the same. Therefore, they find it necessary to tailor their services to suit the needs of their target clients. 

For parents with small children, it is important to look for a dental clinic that is good at dealing with children. Children-friendly dentists know what to do and say to make children feel comfortable in the dental clinic environment.

Don't Give Your Child Incentives to See the Dentist

It's a natural thing for parents to promise their children a reward in order to get them to do something that they don't want to do. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this parenting tactic, it doesn't always work well for trips to the dentist. 

When you tell your child that they'll get a reward after seeing the dentist, they'll keep their guard up. This can cause their fear of the dentist to increase instead of reducing.

If you follow the above-discussed tips, you should be able to help your little ones to manage their fear of the dentist. 

For more information about dental clinics, contact a local resource.

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