My daughter is, understandably, terrified of the dentist. Absolutely petrified. (That's mostly my fault - her first visit was before she turned two. It was to fill two cavities we had found while brushing her teeth, and it was...traumatic. If anybody has any ideas for helping a kid get over MAJOR dental fear, I'm all ears.)
In the days leading up to the Dentist Visit, I prepped her. I coached her. We ran through the events: Go to the dentist, sit in the chair, get our teeth brushed, leave, go home, make cupcakes. If she could get through the dentist visit, there was a very sticky, sweet reward waiting on the other side!
She did it. It was hard...really, really hard. She got her toy, and new toothbrush, and a ring...and, as she left the dentist's exam room, she exclaimed, "Mom, I am never, never, NEVER coming here again!"In the days leading up to the Dentist Visit, I prepped her. I coached her. We ran through the events: Go to the dentist, sit in the chair, get our teeth brushed, leave, go home, make cupcakes. If she could get through the dentist visit, there was a very sticky, sweet reward waiting on the other side!
The finished product.
They were tasty...and I was so proud of my little girl!
(We used Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake recipe again, cut in half. It made 12 mini muffins, and 9 regular muffins.)
(I was serious about getting ideas to help BBJ. She is good and truly terrified of the dentist. She was partly right - through no fault of his own, we will no longer be visiting that particular dentist. I'm wondering if I'll just have to wait until SJ is old enough to visit the dentist...and then she can just follow his brave, nonchalant example?)
Poooor BBJ!
ReplyDeleteThere is a pediatric dentist close to my place. Her shop is just for kids and it's supposed to be a magical place to go to.
Well, maybe you can find some place like that for her? Just perhaps for one or two basic cleaning sessions?
That first picture looks GRUESOME! :) E really likes the pediatric dentist that comes into Dr. Hilton's office on Saturdays. (And their method is that if the kid starts freaking out, they quit while they're ahead, instead of making a phobia out of it.) There's also a Pediatric dentist office in Factoria that my pediatrician uses.
ReplyDeleteyoutube videos for kids on the dentist and go over the routine with her favorite doll and stuffed animal. Take her doll with you to the dentist and do the routine with the doll first.
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets over it soon; she has many visits ahead of her in her lifetime :)
youtube videos for kids on the dentist and go over the routine with her favorite doll and stuffed animal. Take her doll with you to the dentist and do the routine with the doll first.
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets over it soon; she has many visits ahead of her in her lifetime :)
youtube videos for kids on the dentist and go over the routine with her favorite doll and stuffed animal. Take her doll with you to the dentist and do the routine with the doll first.
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets over it soon; she has many visits ahead of her in her lifetime :)
youtube videos for kids on the dentist and go over the routine with her favorite doll and stuffed animal. Take her doll with you to the dentist and do the routine with the doll first.
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets over it soon; she has many visits ahead of her in her lifetime :)
I myself have a great fear of dentists and can completely relate with BBJ! My daughter was also petrified until I took her to a pediatric dentist - her first experience was with a "traditional" family dentist. She did have to get a cavity filled, but he gave her a nice dose of nitrous oxide and she got a little loopy, said some truly hysterical and awesome things and didn't remember the awfulness of getting the filling. Now, she has no problem going to the dentist. We even found a great ped. dentist after we moved who is smart and has mounted flat screen TVs to the ceiling and has a play place in the waiting room so they have fun even before they get to see him.
ReplyDeleteHi! You know that we've had our share (more than our share :)) of dental trauma over here. I will say that changing dentists made all the difference, and I would highly recommend interviewing new dentists about exactly how they deal with anxiety. Our new dentist does this weird, swoopy, high-pitched princess narrative through the whole procedure, and J. was mesmerized by it. It sounds kooky, but it really lulled her into submission. She did six fillings (!) recently with a small amount of Novocaine and nothing else, and didn't struggle or cry at all. VERY different from the mayhem at the last dentist (shudder.)
ReplyDeleteWe take the kids to a pediatric dentist, and if that is a possibility I would definitely talk to them. Perhaps go visit on a NON dental exam day to see what all they do.
ReplyDeleteI know our dentist uses laughing gas to make the kids "happy" for the treatments for cavities and such before the shots...so much so that most do not remember the shots.
Then, the pediatric dentist also has the "loud" room, where the kids who are going to be LOUD are sent so that they don't disturb the other patients (or frighten them).