How Your Dentophobia Can Affect Your Child’s Oral Health

At least 75 percent of adults in the country home a certain amount of fear when it comes to visiting a dentist. If you think about it, there’s a lot to fear because you don’t know what to expect. A qualified stranger putting sharp things in your mouth? To some people, it’s the stuff of nightmares.

Mysterious, but it’s the kind of fear that’s impractical to carry. You need dentists to keep your teeth healthy. But, in order not to pass it on, exploring this kind of phobia is necessary.

Causes of dentophobia

There are several reasons why people have dentophobia. Likewise, people use many terms to describe it. People sometimes call it dental anxiety or dental fear. Although it goes by several names, it all means the same: excessive fear of going to the dentist to seek dental care.

In most cases, many of the people who have dentophobia often experienced traumatic things at the dentist’s office. It can also include complications from specific procedures. Another factor is the pain associated with the treatment. Also, the negative emotion that they are feeling can come from a bad interaction that they had with the dentist. But did you know that parents can cause their kids to suffer from dentophobia?

How parents transfer their dentophobia to their children

Ideally, introducing kids to a dentist in Murray at an early age is the best way to reduce the chances of developing dentophobia. But there are times when parents themselves are the ones who are afraid of visiting the dentist. These parents unknowingly pass their dental anxiety on to their kids. Thus, preventing them from attending their dental visit.

Experts say that it’s crucial for the parent to remain calm and relaxed when visiting the dental clinic. Doing so helps the kids feel comfortable as much as possible. Kids who have negative experiences at a dentist can carry it with them as they grow.

Coping with dentophobia

If your dentophobia is affecting your child’s oral health, then it’s best to seek help from a licensed mental health professional. They offer medications as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy to their patients. Undergoing such treatments will help you manage your fear. Once you’re able to manage your phobia, you’ll soon be able to accompany your child during their visit to the dentist.

An easy way to manage your fear is through relaxation techniques. It can be in the form of deep breathing exercises and guided imagery. Systematic desensitization is also an alternate way that psychologists use to reduce phobias.

Introducing your kid to the dentist

Experts recommend that a kid’s first visit should be when their first tooth erupts in their gums. Doing so allows your kid to get familiar with the staff as well as the dentist’s clinic.

Following their first visit, you need to ensure that it continues every six months. Depending on the suggestion of your dentist as well as your child’s comfortability, the dentist will ask you to hold your kid’s hand while he or she performs an oral check-up.

Dentophobia is a severe condition that needs to get addressed before it gets worse. You need to ensure that you’re always there for your child to give him the support that he or she needs, especially during your kid’s first dental visit.