No one ever wishes to have a dental issue, but unfortunately, they are a fact of life. Thankfully, we live at a time where incredible dentists and orthodontists exist, able to take care of almost any dental issue. Even if you lose all of your teeth, dentists can help provide alternate arrangements that help you thrive.
That said, dental issues can be quite worrying to children. It makes sense. No matter how affable the medical professional is, having someone we’re not familiar with poke around our mouths in a clinical environment is certainly something you have to look forward to. Of course, as children, the promise of a treat afterwards of a bright, colorful sticker on our chest helps us feel more at home.
If it’s been decided that your child may need braces, they may feel worried about what it will be like to wear them, how to maintain them, and how many visits they’ll need. As a parent, assuaging your child’s fears of getting braces can be a great idea, if only to help them submit to this worthwhile process more easily. Let’s consider how to achieve that:
Meet The Orthodontist
Of course, taking your child to see the orthodontist can be a great idea. They’ll talk you through all of the options, and if you make sure to choose a friendly orthodontist, they’ll come across as a friend willing to help and develop a long term solution for your child’s dental health rather than someone thinking of ways to make them uncomfortable for long periods of time. When your child can see you positively conversing with someone able to converse like this, most of their worry dissipates.
Read Through The Materials
In many cases, dentists and orthodontists will have written materials to offer in order to better explain what they may not be able to cover in the meeting. With this, they can showcases what braces are for, why they’re important, how they can help, and the daily process of living with them. When this is laid out carefully and your child can picture everything they need to do in order to make this work, they’ll no doubt see that the process isn’t as bad as they think. Outside of a little discomfort in the mouth when braces are tightened, your child will be perfectly fine.
Share Your Experiences
If you’ve had your braces as a child, or perhaps someone in your family has had them, then they can talk candidly about their experience - of course with an eye to make sure the child feels reassured. This shouldn’t have the same tone as spooky stories you tell around a campfire, for obvious reasons. You may even show them before and after pics if you have them from your childhood. This way, they can see that this isn’t so difficult a process, as everyone they know and love went through it and came out better on the other side. It will also show them that there’s nothing uniquely ‘wrong’ about their situation.
With this advice, your child is sure to feel a little more comfortable when getting their braces.
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