Lets Talk Tears…
We always try our best to provide our families a smooth experience. However, at certain ages a new setting, new face and simply someone invading your “personal space” can be scary.
Tears at the dentist are never easy. However as a pediatric dental specialist, I have a few tips that will help prevent and if necessary work through crying.
Start Young
Introducing good dental habits early on can help normalize what occurs in the office.
The recommendation for the 1st dental visit is at the first teeth or one year of age, which ever comes sooner.
Morning Appointments
Young children tend to do best early in the day. They are fresh & can be motivated easier in the office to cooperate with a dental exam.
Extra Time
In the event your child has already had a negative experience with a previous provider, he or she may have developed intense fears or even trauma. This requires an additional level of care.
We offer “Get To Know You Packages” that are planned out to treat your child’s specific needs.
This may include a series of “fun” visits to the office prior to an actual dental exam. It allows the child the opportunity to develop a positive rapport with the staff & office setting and create healthy connotations with the dentist. These packages are excellent opportunity for special needs children as well.
Team Work
What happens when parents & staff members have done everything to ease the child and melt downs still occur? At this point “Team Work Makes Dream Work”!
Breathe, stay calm & let’s be flexible as a team. We create a new plan and do our best to accommodate the child.
-Pushing through
-Reward for any good behavior that has occurred
-Dividing up dental work into multiple appointments
-Stop and try again another day, etc. are all viable options.
-The goal is to make progress and know that with routine dental visits, positive reinforcement & maturity things will get better.
Hang in there parents!
Dr. Piya Gandhi
West U Pediatric Dentistry
📧 info@westupediatricdentistry.com
832.767.2227
