Your dentist assisting you to help your children
Children’s dentistry plays a really essential part in our practice, we feel it’s so important that we’re helping parents and educating children on how best to care for their teeth from as young an age as possible. We understand it’s not always the easiest task to build a confident, happy relationship with the dentist, when the narrative being fed is that dental practices are not always the most comfortable places to be. In order to combat this stigma we’ve put together a little guide on all the ways you can encourage a happy relationship with the dentist.
Why is our dentist in Acton sometimes seen in a negative light?
The word ‘dentist’ has negative connotations for a few reasons; it’s mostly linked to the media and the stories we’ve heard from previous generations. Our ancestors didn’t have the best time at the dentist, for lots of them pain relief wasn’t a thing and anaesthetic certainly wasn’t. There weren’t dentures or implants and so when you lost teeth you lost them and that can be seriously mentally traumatic. And it’s this trauma that as a society we’ve left to go unhealed. Dentistry is in a constant evolution and we’re now in a place where there really should be minimal discomfort when we’re having our teeth inspected and addressed, in fact there are even machines now that are able to inject anaesthetic without causing any pain.
What can be done?
When dismantling any stigma it’s important to check in with yourself and acknowledge your own thoughts and feelings on the topic. If you’re someone who has had or still has negative feelings toward the dentist then consciously or not you could be passing this on to your children. Addressing how you feel is the first step in creating a better relationship with our dentist for your children.
The language we use
Being conscious of the words you’re using when discussing our dentist in Acton with your children is really important. You should be using positive reinforcement rather than bribery or pacifying.
What do we mean by this?
Using phrases like, ‘I’ll get you a treat when we’re done’ or ‘it will be over really soon’ is sending a message to your child that they are going through something difficult or that they’re suffering in some way – which they aren’t. Turning it around to things like ‘how lucky we get to look after our teeth’ or ‘I’m so excited to get my teeth looked at, aren’t you’ will slowly but surely introduce them to the idea that the dentist is actually a really important part of taking care of themselves.
Making healthy people
Fundamentally we all just want what’s best for our children and through addressing your own feelings and adapting to their needs will in the long term create healthier people who put their wellbeing first. Of course we’re lucky that now we do have pain relief and dental implants, but wouldn’t it just be so much better if we didn’t need to use them because we raised a generation of dentist positive children? Our dentist in Acton at Wisdom Dental certainly thinks so.