How to Help Your Child Get Over Fear of the Dentist

Visiting a qualified dentist regularly (at least every six months or as recommended by a dentist) is very important to maintaining dental health in children. Unfortunately, however, many children struggle with a serious fear of the dentist. This can make it nearly impossible to get those regular checkups in. The good news, though, is that there are many fool-proof things that you can do to help your child get over his or her fear of the dentist and perhaps even start to look forward to those regular check-ups!

Go for a Practice Visit

To start off with, one smart thing you can try is to arrange a "practice visit" to your child's dentist's office, preferably a few days or so before your actual appointment.

This will give your child a chance to meet the dentist, see his or her office, and get to check out the different dental tools and what they are for. The dentist can also explain what will happen at the upcoming appointment and put your child's mind at ease.

Half of the time, children who are scared of the dentist are scared because they do not know what to expect, but a practice visit can ease their minds and make the actual visit, as well as future visits, go a lot more smoothly.

Offer a Reward

Children love getting fun prizes and rewards, and if you couple those things with a dental visit, they'll develop a positive association between the two.

Explain to your child that, after the dental visit, he or she will get a treat, a toy, or maybe just a fun day hanging out with you.

Make the day of the dental visit special and something to look forward to in other words. This will help your child to be excited about "dentist day" and will make it seem like a fun event and not something to dread or be afraid of.

Talk About the Consequences

You can also help your child overcome his or her fear by talking about the things that can happen if the child doesn't visit the dentist.

Go ahead and tell your little one about cavities, tooth decay, and the other things that can happen without proper dental care.

This will allow your child to see the importance of visiting a dentist and will help the child to see that a dental visit is actually a good and healthy thing.

For more information, contact a business such as Lucky Kids Dental.