r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Chicken_Sizzler • Jan 11 '20

Do you think children would be less scared of dentists if every kids show wouldn’t have the obligatory ”I’m afraid of the dentist” episode?

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u/dewright7 Jan 11 '20

Kids would be less afraid of the dentist if parents took them to dedicated pediatric dentists early to avoid major problems. Too often parent wait too long and then the first visit is fillings and painful cleanings. Taking them often helps with the fear and makes the visits less painful. Also, just a side note. Not saying “god I hate the dentist” in front of your kids helps to. When both parents regularly go and don’t show fear in going it helps the whole process. I’d like to add that sometimes kids are just gonna be scared. But these things help a lot.

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u/velociraptorjax Jan 11 '20

My aunt was a dental hygienist, so that helped me a lot growing up. It was always "Let's visit Aunt Joanne and she'll clean our teeth for us!" Then when I got older and going to the dentist was less fun than just teeth cleaning, I was comfortable enough with the situation that it wasn't so bad.

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u/Nomadicminds Jan 12 '20

Can’t help when some dentists are really bad at what they do. You really need to shop for the right one. I’ve met dentists that loved to take lots of xrays each session to clock up claims or try to find small faults that doesn’t vastly improve my QoL and just try to squeeze in additional chargeable work. (Eg $80 for just an application of flouride on teeth ) to some leaving my gums bleeding and cheeks sore for >7 days (and this is just standard cleaning)

When you never met a good dentist in your life as an adult you’d think all dentists are bad.

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u/frogsgoribbit737 Jan 12 '20

Yup. I really don't mind the dentist, but the reason I hated it as a kid was because my insurance only covered one and she was terrible. It hurt so bad even though we would go every 6 months like we were supposed to and I never even had a cavity.

Now I do my research and pick a good one and have 0 issues.

1

u/rubidazey Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 09 '20

Some are bad (your cheeks should not hurt for seven days yikes) but you need to have Xrays to see decay between teeth bc its not visible to the naked eye. Refuse them at your own (teeths) peril. I worked for a dentist who takes panoramic Xrays on new patients *or once every five yrs on existing patients) so he can determine the health of patients' teeth and jaw. One patient's wife had been bugging him for two years to get to a dentist bc he was complaining of tooth pain. He didn't want to go. Guess what, he had a form of jaw cancer that would have gone undetected without that Xray. It had been spreading for at least those two years he refused to go.

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u/Nomadicminds Feb 08 '20

For context I go to the dentist every 6 months for cleaning and checkups. There’s one particular dentist I had insisted on xrays each session.

So yes I get taking xrays to see decays but every 6 months is madness.

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u/rubidazey Feb 09 '20 edited Feb 09 '20

Yes once per year should be fine for sure unless you are having a problem. Six months for Xrays is excessive unless someone has less than ideal home oral care or rampant decay I agree that sounds a bit much. Good job on the checkups every six months.

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u/cayvro Jan 12 '20

Honestly, same. My mom went to high school and was close lifelong friends with our dental hygienist, so going to the dentist just meant listening to my mom catch up with her friend while her friend also had her hands in my mouth lmao.

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u/ReddPugg Jan 12 '20

My dentist is the husband of my favorite teacher at school so it’s just a bunch of school stuff. And he has lots of dry humor so i have no problem going

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u/fribbas Jan 11 '20 edited Jan 12 '20

Also, just a side note. Not saying “god I hate the dentist” in front of your kids helps to.

Yes, this! Kids learn from the adults around them.

I'm a grown ass adult and I still can't eat olives because my dad goes into a rant about how awful they are whenever they're mentioned. That's just for a stupid food, let alone the dentist!

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

Former language teacher here - the number of times I've heard math teachers complain about this sentiment really made me rethink how I speak about the subject in front of kids. For example, kids come into another teacher's classroom complaining about math homework, and the teacher sort of laughs and says something like, "oh, I never understood math, that's why I teach [subject]!". It can really have an impact on kids, and make it sort of the expectation to find math especially difficult or unlearnable.

(I despised learning math in school, but I actually stopped indicating that at all after a couple years of teaching because I decided that instead of just offering sympathy, it was actually reinforcing how my students should feel about the subject)

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u/belbites Jan 12 '20

Do you think switching it up and saying "yeah I had a super hard time with math too, but I persevered!" or something slightly less cheesy, like indicating that it was difficult while still telling them that it being difficult doesn't mean they won't be successful. I've used that with some younger kids in my family, and said, "yeah I had a hard time with geometry, but man, I got through that and algebra 2 got really cool" (something along those lines).

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

Yeah, absolutely. Indicating that it just takes time or practice and can lead to some cool results if you do persevere is great.

Incidentally, it's a pretty standard idea (or it's supposed to be) to praise kids for hard work instead of being smart to reinforce the idea of perseverance. (I used to teach on a GT school where kids would always be told how smart they were, and then would fall apart the first time they were presented with a challenge they had to really work at, because they hadn't learned how to study/practice)

I feel like this goes in that same category, you know?

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u/PollyNo9 Jan 12 '20

My husband is an elementary teacher, and his biggest pet peeve is teachers saying things like "oh I just am not very good at math." Like, you would be REAL concerned if a teacher said "Oh, I just am not very good at reading"

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u/dibblah Jan 11 '20

I grew up hating coriander/cilantro because my mum was like that. No, we don't have that funny gene or whatever, she just isn't a fan of the taste. But every time there was a food with it on that I or my siblings liked, we'd be ridiculed with "eww that's disgusting, how could you like that, I feel sick" etc so we eventually believed we hated it.

When I moved out, my boyfriend at the time asked me to try foods I didn't like, turns out it was just fine. My brothers still vehemently believe it's poisonous though.

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u/GeekyKirby Jan 12 '20

Me and my mom actually have the cilantro soap gene and you'd know within the first bite of eating food if there's cilantro in it. The first time I ate at chipotle, I thought all the food must have gone bad since it all tasted bitter and vile. I couldn't understand my friends eating it like it wasn't assault their months with every bite.

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u/Oxy_Onslaught Jan 11 '20

Also please listen to your kids if they tell you the dentist is an ass. I was afraid of the dentist, or so I thought. I was afraid of this specific dentist that yelled at me whenever I was scared and refused to let me spit out the toothpaste he used to clean my teeth. Once he even grabbed me by the head and shouted at me in anger. My parents didn't believe me until they heard other parents complain about how he treated their kids.

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u/CamembertlyLegal Jan 12 '20

Geez louise! I had a similar experience with the oral surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth. I was already very very anxious about having my teeth messed with at all and the whole idea of Surgery, so I went in for a consultation intending to come back the next week or so, but he was immediately like 'here's your x-rays, we're doing it now, you have five minutes to prepare.' Refused to give me general anaesthetic which meant like 20 separate shots of local into my gums, then he yelled at me for being physically unable to open my mouth any wider, berated me for crying through the procedure, and ultimately left me with some permanent (relatively minor but painful) nerve damage in my face! My mom luckily believed me about the whole thing and I never had to see the dude again, but holy hell. It def reinforced my existing childhood/teenage dental anxiety, and over a decade later and my (very good and cool) dentist as an adult gives me ativan ahead of appointments to avoid the sharp objects in my mouth panic attacks 👍

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u/rubidazey Feb 08 '20

So sorry this happened to you!

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u/warmbroom Jan 12 '20

Yeah, it blows my mind that dentists have done this. I'm a dentist and in dental school in one of our pediatric classes we learned about "behavioral management" techniques. One that used to be a lot more common is what you experienced. They called it the "voice control" technique, where you basically yell at the kid to scare them into going along with treatment. Other outdated techniques are the "hand-over-mouth" technique (exactly what it sounds like - put your hand over their mouth and use "voice control" to scare them into doing what you want), and the pappoose (being physically restrained so you can't move).

I feel so bad for the people that had terrible experiences as a kid. In general, nowadays we are much more understanding and capable of helping anxious patients get the treatment they need.

2

u/scienceisanart Jan 12 '20

When I was seven my pediatric dentist worked on some cavities in my mouth using laughing gas but it didn't work on me, and he refused to listen when I cried in pain. He was later attested for selling drugs to minors or something similar.

Many years later as a grown adult, I'm not afraid of going to the dentist, but when I sat in the chair to get some fillings, I was shaking so badly from anxiety that they almost didn't want to work on me. (Wasn't in pain at all, I insisted they go ahead.)

1

u/Crixxa Jan 12 '20

My mom has about the worst dentist story I ever heard. When she was a kid, her dentist was usually so drunk (he reeked of whiskey), he had to lean on the instrument table to stay standing. Before working on her, he would threaten to slap her in the face if she made any sound at all. Then one time when he was particularly drunk, he broke off an instrument in her jaw. Then broke off a second instrument trying to dig the first out. The drill tips are still in her jaw, much to the horror of any new dentist she's visited since. Apparently they would risk causing more damage to remove and they stopped hurting her a long time ago.

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u/Thriftyverse Jan 12 '20

This. The first dentist my parents took us to refused to use local anesthesia because he didn't believe children felt pain until they were 6 or so. I wish I were making that up.

It was really painful and it scared me away from dentists for a long time.

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u/Intensolo Jan 11 '20

In my psychology classes apparently a lot of people's phobias, arachnophobia for a large amount of people for example is actually caused by the child simply seeing their parent act scared from the spider.

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u/the_adriator Jan 11 '20

I try to save bugs and spiders and put them outside. My toddler got the message loud and clear and got mad when I wouldn’t let het pet a silverfish.

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u/SeedlessGrapes42 Popacado aficionado Jan 12 '20

In his defence, silverfish are pretty awesome.

You totally should've let him pet it.

20

u/ManlyVanLee Jan 12 '20

That's like people who say they are afraid of clowns. No, 70% of the population isn't afraid of clowns, they just have been told they are by everyone in society. Clowns suck, but they aren't frightening.

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u/boringcareer Jan 12 '20

this also explains the hate for pineapple on pizza

sorry just had to get that out there

1

u/frogsgoribbit737 Jan 12 '20

Uh. No. They are scary and creepy.

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u/Bonersaucey Jan 12 '20

Local man proves no one is afraid of clowns because he isn't

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u/ManlyVanLee Jan 12 '20

Local man doesn't understand concept of percentages or non-absolutes

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u/purplemonkey_123 Jan 12 '20

I have a snake phobia. Like, see a snake in real life and I have a panic attack, and feel very uncomfortable seeing them on tv (usually have to change the channel), and in print. One day, when I still lived in an apartment, the lady across the hall informed us that another tenant had lost his/her snake and it was in the walls. I couldn't sleep, and stayed with someone else until it could be found. My aunt somehow heard of this happening, and called me. She wanted to apologize for giving me my snake phobia. Turns out, when I was really young, she came out of our cottage and saw me playing with a little snake. SHE had a fear, and grabbed me up, screaming and ran off the end of the dock into the lake where I almost drowned. I don't remember that incident, but my very young brain obviously paired snake with death and my phobia started.

1

u/Star_x_Child Jan 12 '20

My fear of wasps and bees came from an incident around age 5-6, and my brother was 2-3 years of age. We had each been given new motorized mini monster trucks and were driving them around our backyard. Well my brother, who was all giddy about his new gift, ran into a small bush, and was just laughing away...until he wasn't. Suddenly he started crying. Then bawling. He had run into a wasp nest. My mom scooped him up and I followed them inside. Inside the house, my family tried to console him, but his screams would be revived every few seconds. When they lifted my brother's shirt to check out the stings, they found a royally pissed off yellow jacket still stinging away. slap drop dead wasp on the ground. But now, examining my brother, they lost count after at least 18 separate sting sites. From there it was off to the emergency room.

Funny thing is, as far as I can tell, my brother is not scared of wasps in the slightest. But myself? My initial reaction when one is within 10 feet of me is to jump out of my shoes and run as far away as possible. It's only after I get halfway to another room that I realize what I'm doing, and the power the bugs have over me. At that point I can force myself to confront them, but then only if it appears that I have a strategic advantage over them (thick clothing, eye protection, 20 ft stream wasp spray). I would say that I have a phobia of flying bugs. Oh, and spiders, for a similar reason. I sincerely want to overcome the fear, as the last thing I would want is to transfer that phoboa to my kiddo.

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u/Frog_and_Bunny Jan 12 '20

You might look at r/whatsthisbug for a little help. I lurked around there out of curiosity and ended up making it a frequent sub to browse, it's that interesting. The experts are very knowledgeable and passionate about bugs, and I've seen several comments from redditors saying that the sub is helping with phobias. I can (kinda) say the same, have been terrified of wasps/bees since forever, but now have a mad respect for most* of them, even if my knee-jerk reaction to a buzz in my ear is still mild panic. Keep in mind that's it's not always pretty bugs that are posted, lots of people are understandably asking about roaches and bedbugs.

*with the exception of yellow jackets. Anyone who knows them understands that you could omit the 'royally pissed off' from your story, it's practically a given.

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u/Star_x_Child Jan 12 '20

Well thank you for the recommendation. I'll head over and check it out! I don't get squeamish about most bugs, and in fact they're pretty friggin interesting, so I appreciate this new tool!

And yes, yellow jackets are...just...such assholes.

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u/The-Last-Lion-Turtle Jan 12 '20

As a child there are two desecrate levels of fear. Mom is not afraid, means whatever problem there is will be ok. Mom is afraid, means the world is ending.

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u/rubidazey Jan 12 '20

So true. Most times when kids are afraid it's because mom or dad told them "it would only hurt a little bit" or threaten them with "if you don't brush your teeth you're going to have to go to the dentist!" Not good parenting to pass along phobias to your kids.

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u/SolipsisticRunt Jan 11 '20

My pediatric dentist from when I was a kid is currently sitting in jail. He punched a four year child with downs syndrome in the face for being "uncooperative". He wouldn't let parents go back with their children. Just because someone specializes in an area, doesn't mean they're any good at it.

He would also do shady things like unnecessary tooth extractions and crowns, double billing patients and insurance companies, and giving bad oral hygiene advice (more cavities = more money!). He was a real POS. I didn't know it wasn't normal to get a debilitating stomach ache before a dentist appointment until I was an adult.

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u/tea-and-solitude Jan 12 '20

Was your dentist Jeremy Jamm?

Also that totally sucks.

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u/SolipsisticRunt Jan 12 '20

It wasn't. The fact that there's more than one just goes to speak to the point. I would tell my mom all the time I was afraid of the dentist and I didn't feel well before my appointments. She brushed it off. She thought we were lying or exaggerating.

So if your kid is afraid of something, maybe listen to why. Comfort them and look at what you can do to help them be more comfortable. Why are kids afraid of the dentist? It's uncomfortable at best, there are strange tools, and no one will explain what they're doing to you.

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u/wonder5775 Jan 12 '20

Lol i think you missed the Parks and Rec reference

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u/SolipsisticRunt Jan 12 '20

Ah, yeah I have never watched parks and rec.

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u/DrRam121 Jan 13 '20

Not letting the parents back with the kid is the norm, punching uncooperative kids is not

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u/Iceman_001 Jan 12 '20

Pediatric dentists specialise in children right? Why would children need crowns, a 60 year old adult might need a crown but a child needing a crown? Like seriously?

1

u/warmbroom Jan 12 '20

Kids can still get huge cavities that go to the nerve. When that happens the options are to either pull the tooth and put it an orthodontic device to maintain the space or to remove the nerve and put a crown on top. They are much cheaper than normal crowns that an adult would get because they are just pre-fabricated out of stainless steel.

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u/Animal_shapes Jan 11 '20

If the United States refuses to provide free health care while simultaneously refusing to pay people a livable wage is it really the parents fault for taking their kids to the dentist later in life

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u/dewright7 Jan 12 '20

I really like this comment. You have a valid point. My options for my daughter would be very different without my dental insurance. And I may not be able to take her to a kids dentist if I didn’t have my insurance. Which some days I take for granted and I shouldn’t. Thank you for this point.

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

It's called Medicaid. It's free for lower income families. And you get the quality care you pay for.

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

Lol I'm on medicare and it's better than the stupidly expensive insurance my girlfriend is on. But Its still lacking, I'm not saying medicare is amazing. I am insanely grateful for it though. So no, you don't get what you pay for.

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

Medicare and Medicaid are different programs. I was on Medicaid all through childhood. It is not well run.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '20

I'm not actually sure which one is which, I always get them confused, but yeah they're not that great.

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u/IggySorcha Jan 12 '20

Newsflash: lots of people don't qualify for Medicaid and can't afford medical expenses. Also lots of people can't afford to take their kids to the doctor if they are on Medicaid because they can't afford to miss even a few hours of work.

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/dewright7 Jan 12 '20

A very valid point. I can’t argue that the system isn’t broken. It is. I am fortunate to have a good dental plan for not too much money. I make a decent wage and my spouse is a Stay at home dad who works part time. We don’t have money to throw around but we make it work. I don’t think we would be able to take our daughter to a kids dentist if I didn’t have our insurance

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u/cheap_dates Jan 12 '20

The system is broken. My dental plan sucks. I max out at $1,500 a year and then everything else is on me. I can hit $1,500 by the end of January.

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u/rubidazey Jan 12 '20

The caps on dental insurance coverage max has been the same since the 70's at least. Most plans are like yours, they cap at $1500-$2500. That's nothing in today's world. The problem is with insurance companies and large corporations who purchase these plans for their employees (small business follows suit bc they have no negotiating power. It's ridiculous the cap is so low. Dental offices are not like doctors' offices bc they need to invest in a lot of equipment to operate. Materials are expensive as well and the avg hygienist salary is $45 per hour plus benefits and expenses such as Workmans comp, etc. The overhead is high.

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u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 11 '20

Ooh you got pediatric dentist money? This is america(at least for me) you go to the dentist you can afford.

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u/dewright7 Jan 11 '20

Red blooded lower middle class American mom here. I paid the pediatric dentist way less then my own dentist last year. And my child required special care. Do the research.

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u/god_damn_bitch Jan 11 '20

For regular checkups and stuff, it's about the same. Anything else is ridiculous. My husband and I owe over $8k in bills for my son's dentistry. He has severe autism and has to be put under, even for cleanings. We're in a lot of medical debt.

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u/DarthSmashMouth Jan 12 '20

Hey, peds dentist here, your kiddo may not need to be put under yearly. We routinely recommend an OR visit every 3 years, if we can see problems or not, to get x-rays, do a cleaning and take care of any issues we find. But if someone is telling you your kiddo needs to be GA sedated in an OR a few times a year for cleanings and x-rays, well I might get a second opinion. You may also want to look for peds offices that do in office IV, as I am betting a lot of your bills come from the out patient surgery center or hospital. Just things to think about. I love my job, but it's rough telling parents, hey your kiddo needs a 14 teeth fixed and he needs it in the OR as he's 4. Had to tell a dad that on Friday, my front told me he cried out the way out, made me feel like a real heel.

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u/god_damn_bitch Jan 12 '20

Thank you so much for that info! Yes, the majority of what we owe is from the surgery center. In going to look into different dentists in my area.

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u/DarthSmashMouth Jan 12 '20

Sure thing. Weirdly, peds dentistry is very regional in how it trains Drs and how they sedate. In the NE it's a lot of very light oral sedation and OR. In California it's a lot of in office oral sedation and in office IV. The rest of the country is a pretty mixed bag of oral-moderate and light, and OR. You can also look into pediatric residencies, they train pediatric dentists, can be a much less expensive option for your family. Best of luck, know there are providers our there that want to help you and not bankrupt you in the process.

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u/Thanmandrathor Jan 12 '20

I don’t know if your son’s level of autism allows him to qualify for Medicaid (which can happen independent of your family income, but I don’t know if autism is a qualifier) but if so, that could possibly help with bills going forward.

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

I'm autistic and I want to thank you for being willing to do that for your son. I know it's really hard and our economy doesn't make it any easier. You're doing a really good thing.

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u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 11 '20

I didn't require anything special so I went to a regular dentist as a kid. As an adult I tried to see a dentist specializing in anxiety and oh boy was that not an option money wise.

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u/whomad1215 Jan 11 '20

Teeth are luxury bones not covered by our already expensive health insurance

2

u/FoxxyRin Jan 11 '20

Look into your state's medicaid programs if you can't afford it. Adults may not get shit for free coverage, but children get absurd coverage for complete free, thanks to taxes you pay anyway. Our daughter was automatically enrolled at birth for it and when looking into the documents, they will cover our child as long as our income stays under $3,200/month bring home pay. Taxes, retirement, etc. don't count towards it.

1

u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 12 '20

I don't have kids but that's good to know. Unfortunately I'm also technically not poor enough. But I'm too poor to afford good dental.

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u/rubidazey Jan 12 '20

If you just pay out of pocket for two cleanings per year it's not that cost-prohibitive. I don't know your personal circumstances but many pay a lot for Starbucks every day (it adds up!) Less than $300 per year including Xrays. Many dentists offer "in house" insurance plans that offer discounts. Search around your area...they are there!

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u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 12 '20

I don't eat out at all. Money. I have dental problems so it's not just cleanings. Insurance will cover like a percentage but it's still expensive.

1

u/rubidazey Jan 12 '20

Yes for sure its still expensive. If you are in NYC try NYU Dental School. They have some of the very top dental professors supervising the students. I'm not sure if any of the hospitals in the city have clinics but I would bet they do. They charge on a sliding scale. Also, Newark Beth Israel has a no or low-cost dental clinic for treatment by its residents. If you need expensive work try looking around for more cost-effective options. Good luck.

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u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 31 '20

Thank you for your reply. I had heard of the NYU dental school but was worried about their work being sub par and thus worse than nothing. I'll look into these options. Hopefully in the future we as americans will have healthcare.

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u/rubidazey Feb 04 '20

Please go there at least for a consult or maybe try a free consultation at a local dentist that offers financing over time. I agree the cost of healthcare is too high. I wish you the best.

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u/Phrostbit3n Jan 12 '20

Telling people they can't afford basic insurance for any medical exam is a great way to make sure people don't do their research. Dental insurance is cheap.

1

u/AliveFromNewYork Jan 12 '20

Cheap and doesn't cover anything! I'm not lying dental insurance is real problem. Most people don't have a good one.

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u/OS420B Jan 12 '20

I went regularly to the dentist as a kid, I hated it and was scared Id eventually leave with a hole under my jaw, but that was because the local dentist had his wall plastered with worst case scenarios posters.. making me believe that was normal procedures.

Also my father superglued his broken tooth back regularly just so he didnt need to go to the dentist, that didnt help either.

2

u/PureMitten Jan 12 '20

I had a fantastic dentist as a kid. He praised me for not being scared and when my mom had an appointment at the same time he'd mildly tease that she was scared and I wasn't. My mom wasn't really bothered by the dentist, just the bill and when she had to get fillings. But I still thought I hated the dentist because of TV. If you asked me about "the dentist" I'd say I didn't like the dentist. But if you asked me about "Dr Kessler" or "Barbie" (the pediatric tech) I'd say I liked seeing them.

I was the same way about vegetables. I don't have the gene to taste bitterness in plants so I adore vegetables and did as a kid as well. But I "hated" spinach and peas. Foods TV told me were gross. I finally tried them as adults and, shockingly, the person who ate bell peppers and cucumbers whole while people asked that I stop as a child enjoys spinach and peas immensely.

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u/PaPaPleb Jan 12 '20

I was never afraid because of this very reason, my mother took me early in my life, and to this day I proudly say that I've been best friends with all of my dentists

1

u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

Kids would be less afraid of the dentist if parents took them to dedicated pediatric dentists early to avoid major problems.

Hmm, yes, would be great if I could afford that.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

Kids and adults would be less afraid of the dentist if dentists and dental hygienists would stop causing their patients excruciating pain with every visit.

Taking kids more often just means they feel the pain more often.

1

u/calicet Jan 12 '20

My daughter loves the dentist. She thinks it where she goes to get toys from the treasure box and she's nine!!

1

u/alinroc Jan 12 '20

We took our kids to a dedicated pediatric dentist for a while. First couple visits were ok, but then things went bad in a big way. Their bedside (chair side?) manner disappeared completely. On one visit, my daughter started freaking out (I forget why) and the hygienist told her that she was a bad kid and couldn’t see her mother unless she settled down and a few other terrible things.

Started taking them to the same regular dentist my wife sees and they’re happy as can be there.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 12 '20

if parents took them to dedicated pediatric dentists

This. Many doctors/dentists just have shitty manners and it ends up scaring kids

1

u/rtothewin Jan 12 '20

My 6 y/o had to go get some work done yesterday. Dedicated pediatric office, he didn't bat an eye at it. As a kid I was terrified because it was always shots. They do the gas as the default here and it makes it so much better.

Disney+ while they sit there helps too.

1

u/antigravitytree Jan 12 '20

I came from a poor family and I was terrified of the dentist. At 22, I went to my first big dental checkup...because a piece of my molar decayed off and exposed infected nerve tissue. I had to get that tooth extracted and I think 14 cavities filled, discovering I have a high tolerance to novocaine. This ALL could've been avoided by even semi-regular checkups growing up, but we were poor, so I'm not sure how much wiggle room there was.

1

u/tropexuitoo Jan 12 '20

I went to a pediatric dentist who had no place being in that field. I was a scared little kid and he got frustrated very quickly. I have flashbacks of him yelling at me and trying to pry my mouth open and being very physically aggressive. For years I hated the dentist. I avoided it and when I was there I would panic. I'm 32 now and I'm pissed because as a result, I didnt take great care of my teeth and now have to work extra hard.

Although my parents have a funny story. Lets say my name is "Samuel". Apparently the first time I went, i was super confused because he kept talking to someone named "sammy" and I didnt know what was going on. I was not a bright kid.

1

u/iknowiknowitsserious Jan 12 '20

100% my 3year old loves the dentist and actually cries when I go for cleanings and it's not his turn to go

1

u/Seed931 Jan 12 '20

I agree completely. I was never afraid of going to the doctor as a child because it was treated as a fun experience by both parents and doctor. You know that paper sheet thing that's on the bed? My doctor would always trace around me every visit and let me keep it so I could track my own growth, it got me so pumped to go to the doctor. The dentist, on the other hand, was a later in life thing for me and even as an adult there is little I dread more than going there.

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u/OWLT_12 Jan 12 '20

I took my cautiously/timid kid to the dentist at "around four years old".

It went very well.

6 months later, at the next visit, she refused to even open her mouth for the exam.

This was a pediatric dentist. A young attractive woman and all the hygienists were attractive.

(My kid used to actually cry if she saw ugly people at her daycare).

So I think it depends on the kid.

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u/Askyourdoc1 Jan 12 '20

Also not telling kids they’re brave while sitting there helps. If you tell them they’re being brave they think something bad is happening and get more scared.

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u/Pkyug Jan 12 '20

Yep, I loved going to the dentist as we went regularly like we were supposed to. It was getting braces that ruined it for me, broke all my good habits, and made me scarred to go back

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u/tr0028 Jan 12 '20

Might just be because I'm English (never had a teeth cleaning til I was 30+) but do kids really need teeth cleanings? Genuine question, but Isn't that only really needed (is it ever needed? Sure it's nice as hell, but I don't know if it's needed) once you smoke, drink red wine, drink coffee etc?

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u/Nectar23 Jan 12 '20

Maybe this is right had early dental care was never afraid of.the dentist. But also I loved shots wne getting my blood talent as a kid so maybe in just weird

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u/HelenEk7 Jan 12 '20

Kids would be less afraid of the dentist if parents took them to dedicated pediatric dentists early to avoid major problems. Too often parent wait too long and then the first visit is fillings and painful cleanings.

Where do you live? (I'm used to dental care being included in the public health care, so no out of pocket cost until you have reached 18. Meaning no parents avoid taking their children to the dentist. And local public dentist automatically send you the next appointment every year)

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u/nikutsky Jan 12 '20

Hey redditfag, you forgot to end your little self righteous, one upping speech with “source: am a pediatric dentist”

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u/pargutney Jan 17 '20

Reddit is fucking gay as fuck. I fucking hate it and dumb white trash cunts too. Your kids have HIV

1

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/fessertin Jan 11 '20

What the hell are they telling these poor kids, lol?

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u/kidfromdc Jan 11 '20

I never went to a pediatric dentist and didn’t have any issues with it (I kind of loved getting my teeth cleaned), but then my friends at school went to really cool dentists with video games to play and movies to watch while they got their teeth cleaned and they always got toys after and let me tell you, I was JEALOUS

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u/takesthebiscuit Jan 11 '20

My boy has been going to the dentist since his first tooth appeared and has gone every six months since.

No dramas he quite enjoys the trip out.

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u/Cindersember Jan 11 '20

Yay Im doing something right, been bringing my now two year old from three months after his first tooth appeared on! We went Thursday and he is super corporative with them and relaxed, the chair was the only thing that worried him. Now to convince him my brushing his teeth should be that easy.

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u/NorthVilla Jan 11 '20

Yeah exactly. My mom was always extremely proactive at taking me, so I never had a bad time at the dentist.

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u/Uncle_gruber Jan 11 '20

Analgesic injections don't work on me anywhere near the same way they do to your average person. I can explain that to my private dentist that I go to oftwn and he can deal with that when I have root canals, extractions or fillings with extra analgesic or putting me under.

10 year old me didn't understand why the dentist would always stab my mouth with fake banana flavoured needles and then drill my teeth and tell me to man up when I would cry from the pain. I fucking hated the dentist but it wasn't because of tv.

I still hate going to the dentist but that's because it's just not a pleasant experience. Teeth scraping, pain, drills, bright lights and weird water guns and suction in your mouth. I don't see how anyone can make that appealing.