What is the age at which the child should make the first visit to the dentist?
From a psychological point of view, the first impact with a new experience is defining in our subsequent attitude towards similar experiences. For the young patient, the first visit to the dentist should be when the first teeth appear (1-2 years). The starting point is to create a relationship of friendship and trust between the child and the doctor. It also gets your little one used to the dental office. Both parents and doctor play a very important role in this first interaction. The child must perceive everything as a game.
Usually no action is taken on the first visit, unless there is an emergency. Gradually introduce the child to the practice by introducing them to the tools and their role. The child must understand everything that will be done in that session and nothing more. It can lose confidence (and so can subsequent meetings). For the child to behave appropriately, it is necessary for the doctor to keep any promises previously made at each session. At subsequent appointments the necessary treatments will be carried out gradually, with great patience and care.
Should baby teeth with cavities be treated?
Baby teeth should be treated as seriously as adult teeth, because they play an important role in the harmonious bone development of the jaw. Unlike adult caries, children’s caries can progress very quickly. With a clinical picture accompanied by pain, swelling, agitation and nervousness.
If a cavity has developed and led to nerve damage, it is important to perform endodontic (root canal) treatment. This is necessary because although baby teeth will fall out, it is important that they are kept on the arch until they are replaced by permanent teeth. Temporary teeth have the same functions as adult permanent teeth. Their lack can cause feeding and speech problems. At the same time they serve as a guide for the correct positioning of permanent teeth.
How should children be prepared for a visit to the dentist?
Children should be prepared both for their first visit and before each appointment with their dentist. The most important role here is played by parents, and I come to them with some advice:
⦁ Before the first visit, the parent should explain to the child what he/she is going to do and prepare him/her for a dialogue with the doctor as simply as possible.
⦁ Parents should not be promised and offered rewards just for going to the dentist. The importance of keeping teeth clean and healthy is stressed to the child. Only the doctor gives the child a reward for “being good”, and this experience is also useful for future sessions.
⦁ If the parent has any previous fears about the dentist, these should not be shared with the child! He needs to understand that the doctor is his friend and will help him keep his teeth clean and healthy.
⦁ In parent-child dialogue, whether it is before or just at the time of being in the dental office, words such as “pain” or “fear” should NOT be used. Mentioning these words will make the little patient anxious. Also beware of associations with other medical specialities, by using words like “injection”, “needle”, “syringe”, “puncture”. It is preferred to avoid them, as our doctors are trained to take a different approach in these cases.
⦁ A mistake often made by the child’s caregivers is the classic: “If you’re naughty I’ll take you to the doctor and give you an injection! “. Under NO circumstances should such threats be used. The child will always associate the doctor with a punishment for being naughty. It is valid in case of presentation to any doctor. Collaboration with the child will be very difficult in this case!
⦁ Usually any visit to the doctor is best made in the morning, when the child is rested.
⦁ At the first visit it is preferable for the parent to be present in the office, as many children feel more comfortable this way. However, if the parent is more anxious, it is advisable to wait outside so as not to transmit these feelings of anxiety to the child. Warning! The presence of the parent must be strictly observational, not intervening in the child-doctor relationship unless requested to do so or unless there is a need to provide certain information.
⦁ Once the child gets used to it, the parent is invited to sit in the waiting room at the next sessions. This approach provides better child-dentist collaboration. Children’s reactions with parents by their side are often bizarre (comforting, crying, or even outright refusal). There are exceptions, however, where the child is too young (pre-school) or has certain chronic conditions or mental or locomotor deficits, etc.
⦁ The parent should also understand that visits to the dentist are important, once every 4-6 months.
⦁ Daily oral hygiene of the child is always carried out under the supervision of a parent, at least until around the age of 7.