Fear of Dentist

[pepsi]

My little niece is 7 and is terrified of the dentist, last time she went she wouldnt even enter the room and held her hand over her mouth crying....the dentist didnt manage to count her teeth let alone look at them. Unfortunately her teeth have come through quite wonky so it looks like she will need a brace. She has an appointment for next week......has anyone got any advice on how to help her over her fears and want to do if she does get really really upset.

If she is truly terrified the dentist can refer her to the local dental hospital, where treatment can be carried out under anaesthetic. My niece damaged her front teeth (adult ones) in a playground accident a couple of years ago. The resulting treatment has left her terrified of the dentist (although strangely it is the water that seems to freak her out). She has now been referred to the hospital for treatment.

Seems a bit drastic, but, if the child genuinely refuses to allow the dentist to even look in her mouth, it may be the only way to go.

Yes you may be right, I guess the dentist will try a few times and then suggest this, its seems a shame to have to go through all that though. I think she would be just as frightened at the hospital. Last night I was talking about it with her Mum on the phone and she overhead and burst into tears clutching her mouth. I think they will even struggle getting her into the car let alone the dentist chair. Thanks for your advice.

7 is too young to worry about wonky teeth.
7yos are meant to have wonky teeth! The only thing that needs fixing at this tender age is if in a normal bite her bottom teeth bite on the outside of her top ones.
My advice would be to stay away from the dentist but be extra vigilant about the usual good teeth advice like avoid/limit sugar, eat a cube of cheese after meals, don't snack between meals, and brush twice daily with a pea sized blob of adult fluoride containing toothpaste.Spit don't rinse.
Any other advice(and there's lots of other good stuff) is small print.

Visiting the dentist is low priority compared with the above.

PS I'm a dentist.

Thanks Jasper, I to was surprised that braces were being talked about a 7, I thought you didnt wear a brace until you were in your teens, Im told that there is a little girl of 8 wearing a brace in my nieces school. Anyway, your advice is good and I shall pass it on.

pepsi been worrying about my post as I had too much vino last night when I wrote it and sometimes the tone can be a bit off if you know what I mean

I hope I did not give the impression that 7 is necessarily too young for an orthodontic assessment - it isn't, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an ortho assessment at practically any age, but in the case of a completely terrified child , I would advise leaving it till she is older.

This goes not only for ortho treatment but for the dentist in general.
Of course there are degrees of fear and I am all for gradually acclimitising a fearful child so that they get over it but some like your niece are totally screaming terrified and my advice is to stay away from dentists until they are a little older - the vast majority grow out of it. Obviously if she gets a sore tooth that's a different matter . I would just advise extra vigilant tooth care (as per last post) so that visiting the dentist was not necessary!
Best of luck.

I have total sympathy for your niece ... am s**t scared of going to the dentist and always have been, even though i've never needed any major treatment ... must be just a phobia!! You can, if you look, find dentists that specialise in treating children and perhaps she may feel more comfortable with this approach. It's always worth a try, particularly as she is obviously going to require extensive treatment in the future. HTH