Are you hoping to schedule your child’s first visit to the dentist? We understand the worry of preparing your child for what they will face on that first visit. That’s why we’ve dedicated our efforts to making their trip a pleasant one! To help you ease the many different kinds of pain that accompany that first trip, we’ve compiled some tips.
To-Do Before You Go
By taking these few tips into account before you bring your little one in for the first time, you can make sure you’re ready to go when the big day finally comes!
- Bring them to one of your appointments. This allows them to grow accustomed to seeing and hearing the machinery, as well as see you there getting your work done! This proves to them that it’s easy!
- Make sure they have been brushing their teeth each day. You should start brushing their teeth as soon as they have any. This will lessen the pain of teeth cleaning, and they’ll hopefully be used to having tools in their mouth.
- Tell them what will happen. Make sure you prepare your child for what they will face at the dentist by explaining that a dentist will be looking into their mouth for cavities or other problems. Explain to them that it won’t hurt and maybe offer to do something fun with them afterward!
- Make sure you’re taking them in at the correct age. Most children don’t need to see the dentist for the first time until they are about 3 years old. Make sure to check their teeth every so often to see if you should come in earlier!
When To Schedule
You might not have realized this, but did you know that dentist’s have busy times? That’s right, even Burg has times of the year where we are busier than other times, which means it can be harder to schedule an appointment.
We explored Google Trends to see when people are looking for a children’s dentist the most during the year. A quick look at the last 5 years has indicated that people are searching “children’s dentist” the most toward the end of July and the beginning of August.
After looking at Utah’s school start dates and comparing it to Utah’s “children’s dentist” trends as well, we figured out that most people are scheduling their children’s dentist appointments at the end of July and beginning of August likely because they are trying to get this pesky appointment in before the school year starts.
We know that scheduling and completing that very first dentist appointment can be stressful in more than one way. Your child is nervous, you’re trying to find time to fit it in with back-to-school preparations, and the stress can become overwhelming. Which is why we suggest scheduling during these months instead:
- July instead of August – by scheduling in July you are beating that back-to-school rush, which means you can schedule your child’s first dentist appointment whenever works best for you!
- October instead of November – you might be thinking that scheduling pre-candy is a bad idea, but we are here to tell you that this is actually better for your child! This way the dentist can teach them how to take care of their teeth amidst that onslaught of sugar, and you won’t have to deal with the post-Halloween dentist rush.
- February instead of January – a lot of people schedule their dentist appointments for the beginning of the year, probably with the thinking of a “fresh start” for the year. As you can see, that’s one of our busiest times, so we recommend scheduling in February instead. By scheduling in February this appointment can also serve as a reminder to stay on track for those new year’s resolutions!
We hope that by scheduling your child’s dentist appointment during one of the less busy times of year it will take some of your stress away, as well as ensure that your child has proper time to prepare mentally and physically for this exciting trip!
Enjoy the rest of your summer, and we hope to see you soon!
