First Visit Information:
We recommend every child be seen by their first birthday. Starting early helps prevent the dental fears that many adults have and helps us diagnose problems when they are easier to take care of.
A legal guardian is required to accompany the child for their first exam.
This allows for several benefits:
1. We are excited about taking care of kids and want to share that enthusiasm with you.
2. We want to involve you with what we find, rather than have you take our word for it.
3. A lot of education is provided at the exam. If you are not present, much of the education gets missed.
4. With the knowledge you will receive from being present for the exam, you can take more control of your child’s oral health at home.
Infants and Toddlers Until two or three years old, the exam is usually done with the child on the parent’s lap. It is normal to be shy and sometimes to cry even for simple examinations. This is normal behavior and in no way does it upset us, and you should not be embarrassed nor should you feel obligated to quiet the child (if they are crying, their mouth is open) We are a pediatric practice and we expect some noise from the young children, and hope that you will have patience when there are other children still getting comfortable with dental visits.
Preschool age and older We use a technique called Tell-Show-Do. You will recognize this as we first talk about things in a child-friendly way. Then, when appropriate, we show them what we are going to do. Lastly, we move slowly in baby steps when we do any procedure. This prevents any big surprises that may frighten the child. Using this approach helps children be more comfortable and develops trust between the staff and your child.
Child friendly vocabulary As a pediatric practice, we use child-friendly words to describe what we do. For example, we do not use four-letter words (such as hurt, pain, pull and shot).
Please support us in making this experience fun by not going into detail with young children and allowing us to explain in ways that keep anxiety to a minimum.
Some examples of the terminology we use:
We Do NOT Use: |
We Do Use: |
Shot |
Squirt the sleepy juice |
Drill |
Tickle the sugar bugs |
Pull the tooth |
Do a tooth dance / wiggle the tooth |
Hurt |
Feels weird/different |
Cleanings Parents and caregivers are often surprised by how fast a cleaning can be on children. Adult cleanings include removing mineral build-up between teeth and below the gum line. Children are not at risk of this same buildup until the pre-teen and teenage years. There are also not as many teeth to clean. All check-ups involve the following: exam, any necessary x-rays and fluoride, unless specifically requested with the dental assistant not to apply.
Appointment Length Children have shorter attention spans so we work as quickly as we can to keep children happy and content. THANK YOU for choosing Acorn Dentistry for Kids. We look forward to working together with you to maintain and improve the health of your child.
I have received and read the Acorn Dentistry for Kids Introduction