Over 50? Keeping Up With Your Healthcare Needs

Pediatric Dentistry Techniques: Helping Your Child Get Over Dental Anxiety

4 April 2015

Nellie Ryan

One of the more difficult tasks in every parent's life is the day that they have to take their child to the dentist. Your child, if they are like most children, will fight tooth and nail to get out of going to the dentist's office. This is due in large part to the unfounded fear that going to the dentist inspires. However, if you find the right pediatric dentist for your child, they will be well-versed in pediatric dentistry techniques that can help your child overcome their unfounded dental anxiety. This will help you to avoid the headache of fighting with your child to give them the care they need and will help your child to build lifelong good dental health habits. 

Using Hard Tissue Lasers For Tooth Repair And Extractions

One of the reasons that children in particular fear the dentist is all of the frightening and intimidating tools that they use in their practice. And none are more confounding to young children than the drills and other tools that are used for tooth extractions and repair (restorative procedures). The appearance of the drills as well as the grinding sounds and vibrations they make can be terrifying even to adults.

However, there is another technique that pediatric dentists can use to improve upon the experience and make tooth extractions less frightening for your child. This is known as a hard tissue laser. First of all, most children find the concepts of lasers to be "cool" or at the very least, interesting. Secondly, the appearance, sounds, and vibrations of traditional tooth extraction drills are all eliminated. 

The procedure is also quite efficient, even for primary teeth. Lasers are precision tools that allow the pediatric dentist to pinpoint the exact location of cavities or other tooth damage and work only on those specific areas. And, if the tooth needs to be extracted, the laser precision makes the process quick, easy, and reduces postoperative bleeding and infection.

Digital X-Rays

Standard, traditional dental x-rays require your child to be moved from a standard dental examination room into another room specifically for x-rays. This can cause your child anxiety as it is unfamiliar. Additionally, your child is fitted with a heavy vest that lays across their chest and abdomen, and they have uncomfortable plates wedged in their mouth to bite down on.

As such, standard dental x-rays can be problematic for children. However, with the use of digital x-ray technology, your child can be spared much of this stress. Digital x-rays use small, comfortable sensors and can be taken right in the regular dental examination room. Additionally, digital x-rays expose your child to significantly less radiation than traditional x-rays.

When you take your child to the dentist, make sure that their dentist is up-to-date on the latest in pediatric dental techniques and technologies. This will help your child to feel more comfortable going to the dentist and relieve their stress and anxiety. If you're seeking out a pediatric dentist, look to North Phoenix Pediatric Dentistry or other pediatric-specific dentists in your area.

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