PUBLISHED IN TCI WEEKLY NEWS
June 1st 2013
Being scared of going to the dentist is not a new phenomenon. For many adults it is rooted in times before effective pain relief or anesthetics were used and in some countries where the treating practitioner may not have even been trained or qualified.
Fortunately for all of us, times have moved on; there is highly effective pain relief and local anesthetics available, sophisticated dental equipment and of course qualified and experienced dental practitioners. However, for some the fear associated with going to the dentist persists and in some cases is unconsciously relayed onto our children, breeding in them an unfounded anxiety of visiting the dentist.
Recent Clinical Study
A new study conducted by scientists at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid and published in the Internationl Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, highlights the important role that parents- particularly fathers- play in the transmission of dentist fear in their family. Previous studies have already identified the association between the fear levels of parents and their children, but they never explored the different roles that the father and the mother play in this phenomenon. ‘Although the results should be interpreted with due caution, children seem to mainly pay attention to the emotional reactions of the fathers when deciding if situations at the dentist are potentially stressful,” states one of the authors.
Amongst the possible implications of these results, the authors outline the two most salient: the need to involve mothers and especially fathers in dentist fear prevention campaigns; and to make fathers attend the dental appointment along with their children and display no signs of fear or anxiety. “With regard to assistance in the dental clinic, the work with parents is key. They should appear relaxed as a way of directly ensuring that the child is relaxed too,” notes the author.
Practical recommendations to help your child
I always encourage parents to bring their children from an early age and visit as a family, so the children are seeing mum and dad relaxed and comfortable in the dentist’s chair. Even before they need to be seen by the dentist they might even get a ride in the dentist’s chair just to help them become comfortable in the environment. We have children’s books in the waiting room and stickers for children who have done well. Ideally a child should have their first appointment at 18-24mths and it should be for a general check-up rather than associated with pain or trauma. The overall goal is for the child to grow up seeing 6 monthly dental visits as routine and normal and nothing to be afraid of. In this way, we can help to break the cycle of dental visits being seen as scary and help our children maintain healthy and strong teeth.
