Open Wide- First Dentists Trip Tips

On Monday it was time for Jess to finally go to the dentist for the first time it is something which I wanted to get her to do from a young age because I didn't want her to be one of those children who actually became scared of the dentist. I will admit to anyone that I am not the biggest fan of the dentist at all. I actually had a routine appointment as well I made sure that Jess had an appointment with me because this would allow her to see what happen. Unfortunately, there was nobody available to come with me when we had to take her so this did not help me at all I was getting nervous. I shouldn't have needed to because Jess was a superstar she did not manage to bite the dentist at all and I do not know what I was worried about she didn't even cry. I can not believe my little girl only has 8 more teeth and then she will have the full set.

I am going to share with you some tips which I used for her first trip to the dentist and I also asked some of my fellow bloggers for their tips as well. I would say make sure that you have an appointment as well because then they do not feel like they are the only one who has to go through this process. I did this, however, when Jess got into the room she wanted her teeth checking before me so this was not actually an issue for us at all, however, I know for some children it may help a lot. I also recommend a few days before they go saying to them about the dentist and what is going to happen so Jess knew that she would need to do we told her she was going to have to open her mouth and say arrrrr.

I asked some of my fellow bloggers and these were the tips which they gave me for Jess's first trip

Talk positively about it. Let them see you sit in the chair first and see it's not a scary place. Let them climb into the chair if they can. Don't reward them with sweets!- Debbie, Myboysclub

My tips would just be to expect it not to go smoothly at first(meaning they may not let the dentist even really check) , it's somewhere they need to learn to love and if you have a stressful first experience it won't help.- Ayse, Arepops

Don't get stressed about it / worry just treat it like your going somewhere you always go with them so they don't get worried. Also let them know what the dentist does in the lead up to going, my two year old loves going to the dentist as he gets to show her how shiny his teeth are.- Lindsay, newcastlefamilylife.

My son has always come with me and sat on my lap whilst I have been checked. My dentist recommended this and it helps that he is really nice and very sweet to him. I think if you can get them used to being in that environment and they can see you are ok being checked they will follow suit.- Emma. Emmareed

I always told my children that the dentist was just going to count their teeth-  Sarah, Boorooandtiggertoo

We bought our son a little pretend dentist set the week before he went for his first check up. We all played at pretending to be dentists and then he thought it was all just a game when we eventually got there- Stacey, Onesmallhuman

My son always came with me to my appointments. When it came to his turn I booked my appointment at the same time and we went in together. The dentist saw me first and my son had his turn after me. The dentist barely looked in his mouth (they don't generally do much with the young ones), but it got him used to the idea - Erica - 92three30

Ours took a teddy that the dentist checked out first. They felt at ease after seeing the teddy get checked over and were excited about their turn- Beth. Twinderelmo 

Take them with you from as early on as possible! Both of mine have had their first check ups around 10 months, and it just gets the used to how it works. They always sit on my lap during my check up too, and my dentist is lovely and lets them 'help' by pressing the buttons and having their own mirror!- Emily. EmilyandIndiana 

Take your children from as early in their lives as possible. Both of mine have been since soon after birth. Let your children see you in the chair first and use positive words. It's important that your dentist is someone you are super comfortable with otherwise the kids will pick up on this. Also, if you're not happy with your dentist then I wouldn't want my children to visit that dentist.  There is a Peppa Pig episode where they go to the dentist. My son loves watching this and then acts out part of the episode when he is actually at the dentist!  Stickers and reward chart for things like dentist, hairdresser, doctor visits etc if nothing else is working. - Skye, cutenessandchoas


Have you taken your child to the dentist if so what where your tips?

Charlotte x