Your child's first
visit to a dental clinic must be a pleasant experience.
Otherwise the scar of the first impression will last a lifetime.
The right time to bring a child for a dental visit is before all
the milk teeth have appeared - before the child has completed 2
years of age. This sets the stage for ideal preventive dentistry,
something that this individual will appreciate when he/she has
grown up cavity-free.
There are several reasons for this
early visit:
Bringing a
child when there is no emergency will make the visit a
pleasant experience.
Parents
may not recognize a dental problem in it's early stages.
Your
dentist can prevent problems like decay from occuring.
Advise on
nutrition and home care can be provided.
Fear of the dental
clinic is not inborn. It is learnt either from personal
experience or what a child hears from others. Be completely
natural when you inform your child about this visit. Make it
sound like a routine item. Allow your child to get familiar with
the dental clinic. Most important - do not show any anxiety or
fear yourself. Children pick-up non-verbal cues very quickly and
tend to mirror the emotions of their parents.
It is upto parents
to decide whether they want their child to be cavity-free. The
technology is available, all that is required is the will to use
it to your benefit.
