My 4 y/o son has been going to the dentist every 6 months since he was about 18 months old.
He has always loved the dentist and looks forward to his visits. His visits have always been positive and the dentist always makes such a huge deal about how great his teeth look.
We have his 6 month appt today and he is all of a sudden acting all scared and doesn’t want to go. After hearing him out, and him saying it’s going to hurt this time, I told him this wasn’t a choice. I assured him that the dentist wanted to just clean his teeth and make sure he had no cavities as usual. I asked him to remember the last time we went he got a balloon and how happy he was. I keep reassuring him that I am right there next to him the whole time and I could hold his hand. I even promised to take him out for ice cream after.
He just said No, I don’t want ice cream!
Now he is just freaking out and running away from me.
What has worked for you if your child has been scared? Any tips to help him overcome this sudden fear?
Have you tried reading books about gong to the dentist? check out the local library we have My Dentist which has great illustrations of Dentist tools etc and Dora's show me your smile
Wow, this is funny to me. I am a grown women and I am still afaid of the dentist. This fear has caused me to loose many teeth, that could have been saved. I found a compassionate dentist just this last year. I went yesterday with my hubby who laughs at the thought of me being so scared that i will cry. The dentist was telling me that fear with a dentist starts at youth. He said that in todays world pain is small compared to years ago and relaxing and knowing what is happening is the key to not fearing the dentist. What we or kids dont like is the noise and having something in our mounth which we have to sit still for and have the feeling that we have no control. The truth is we do have control and can get up and walk out. But try telling a child that. Most dentist these days, have tv or dvd's anyone can watch, have the dentist put on nick tv or take the childs favorite dvd with you and ask them to put it in. Let the dentist show him the tools and what sounds they make and how they will not hurt him only help him to have better teeth. There are also cartoon sites on the web, showing your child what the dentist does. just google them. Boys or men seem to handle the dentist better then women, as they grow they know the sounds working with their own tools, so they dont associate the sounds with pain. He will grow out of this. Just be there for him and taking his mind off it will help so much. I just reassured my kid and i wish someone had did that to me as a child. But i only had one dentist appt as a child and my teeth were perfect at the time. did not go back until I was 20 and alone and would not let the dentist drill because of my fear, so I just had them pull. Big mistake. Do what ever you can to encourage your son. Good Luck..
There must be something about four. We went through this with our daughter. Same situation ... loved the dentist then suddenly scared. What worked for us was postponing the appt. Waited about six months before trying again. By then, she'd seen her brother at an appt. and then wanted her turn again.
We have a few Dentist Visiting Books we would read ritually before visiting the dentist. One was Mickey Visits the Dentist (or something like that, it's an older book), another was a Little People Book called Michael Visits The Dentist, and we had a few more. Maybe go to the bookstore together (call ahead and they'll make sure they have choices pulled for you and in stock, or search your local library data base. It may be an age thing and it may have been referenced at school or on a tv show and people refer to the dentist as scary. Maybe have someone supercool in his life talk about how great it feels to have clean teeth. We had some serious dentist fear we had to get over. Good Luck!
Are you able to be there with him? I have bad memories of my dentist when I was young. I'm not trying to scare you or anything. My dentist when I was young, pretended to be nice to the parents, but behind closed doors he liked to verbally make you feel bad and didn't have any patience. At age four I was able to find my voice and let my mom know. Nowadays moms or dads are able to sit with their kids. Hopefully this is not the case !! Maybe you can ask him why he's scared. Might have seen something on tv and has a great imagination? Talking to him would be best, and you can also reschedule the appt for a later date. Wish you the best. :)
