How to prepare your child: our best methods of managing anxiety and pain
We’re here to help and, working together, we can ensure that your child associates happy experiences and positive memories with dentistry and dental care!
Help your child understand that this is for their health
Reassure your child that the doctor is a nice lady!
We know, children (and sometimes adults!) can think that going to the dentist is scary! That's why it's useful to talk to them before their dental visits.
Announce their visit as if you were going out to the movies or visiting an aquarium. You can explain to them that the dentist is the doctor for their teeth and that she is happy and excited to count their teeth! You can also download a fish for your child to color in at home and put to sea in our magic virtual aquarium. During treatment, your child can watch their favorite cartoons, and at the end they will part with a gift!
Are Mom Or Dad Maybe A Bit Afraid Of The Dentist?
If you yourself are afraid of the dentist, there’s a risk that you can inadvertently condition this apprehension in your child.
Sharing your personal fears, or promising your child a present at the end of the visit, risks communicating to your child that something disagreeable is about to happen.
As parents, you are your child’s first companions! You know how to reassure your child when they’re afraid, and calm them when they’re feeling anxious. With your collaboration, we can take every step to ensure that your children associate nothing but positive experiences and happy memories with dentistry and dental care.
Focus attention away from the treatment
Avoid words that can be scary
Explain nitrous oxide to your child
Use positive language
Give your child the prescribed medications
Try breathing exercices for relaxation
Thank and compliment your child
In addition, with our advanced technology and anesthesia, there’s no reason for your children to grow up with the same fear of the dentist that other generations have endured!
The benefits of medical hypnosis and nitrous oxide
Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is a gaseous mixture administered through a respirator to improve both physical and psychological comfort levels. It relaxes your child without putting them to sleep, and is therefore not considered general anesthesia, but rather a form of conscious sedation.
Nitrous oxide is administered throughout part or the entire dental treatment, and is inhaled through natural respiration.
The first effects appear in 3–5 minutes, however, nitrous oxide is not like a general anesthesia and your child will remain conscious during the entire treatment.
Once the administration is terminated, the relaxing effects entirely disappear within 3–5 minutes. Your child can therefore get back to their normal activities once they leave our office.
Explain nitrous oxide to your child
For your information, and to better help you explain nitrous oxide to your child, you can watch this video together!
Medical Hypnosis
Medical hypnosis proves to be an effective means of reducing pain perception and encouraging the retention of the positive memories associated with dental treatments. The hypnosis itself works by concentrating children's awareness on the non-menacing aspects of their treatment and by promoting an altered state of consciousness. In this way, children can experience the treatment without pain or anxiety.
We recite positive thoughts and focus awareness away from the treatment: your child enters a world of imagination where they forget all about dentistry while still remaining receptive to their surroundings. Children feel pleasantly influenced by hypnosis, and have fun creating a happy experience.
It’s all about positivity! We explain the procedure in language appropriate for the child’s age, tell stories, and maintain constant verbal communication: this helps bolster the child's a sense of security.
Once the treatment is finished, we thank the child and give them a certificate of bravery, as well as a present- thereby further reinforcing positive sentiment. The child then associates happy experiences and positive memories to the treatment they received at our office, and dental care in general.
Virtual Reality And Fear/Anxiety Management
Healthy Mind is a virtual reality headset, developed in close collaboration with doctors and neuroscientists, that’s clinically proven to reduce pain and anxiety- all while transporting your child to their favorite animated world of oceans, mountains, forests…
Healthy Mind encourages the brain’s natural cognitive abilities, using visual an audio stimulation (along with more advanced psychological principles) to bring awareness away from treatments in order to reduce pain and anxiety.
Osteocentral anesthesia for pain-free treatments
We want the children who sit in our dental chairs to have completely pain-free experiences.
That's why we use specialized anesthesia.
Osteocentral Anesthesia
Technology has greatly changed dental anesthesia. Today, we can offer osteocentral anesthesia, administered by magic wands, that entirely eliminates pain and significantly increases comfort levels.
We administer osteocentral anesthesia using magic wands, which are small devices that look like a pen (therefore not intimidating to children). These are very flexibly positioned, allowing for precise anesthetic injections, while speed is controlled electronically to ensure that these are painless.
Osteocentral optimizes the anesthesia’s application and numbing effects: the mucous membranes aren’t affected, therefore the child’s tongue, lips, and cheek are not put to sleep and there is no risk of biting oneself.
Children are often unfamiliar with the numbing sensations produced by anesthesia and find it strange. As the unknown is often disconcerting, children sometimes express discomfort, but we can assure you that they won’t feel pain.
We explain to children that their sick tooth is taking a nap, and that when it wakes up their tooth will be completely healed!
To minimize pain, manage fear, and help children relax, we use osteocentral anesthesia and conscious sedation (nitrous oxide).We also guide positive thinking through medical hypnosis, which is an effective tool for managing phobias.
