My son has never been to the dentist even though he is nine years old. We’ve been broke for so many years. Now my husband has been offered a great job and it even has dental insurance. I am certain my son will need a TON of dental work (as will my husband and myself). What is the easiest and fastest way to catch him up on his needed care without traumatizing him. I remember hating the dentist as a child.
Patricia
Dear Patricia,
I am glad you wrote and I can tell you care about your son! It’s always hard when their first experience with the pediatric dentist is to deal with decay, etc.. Ideally, their first visit is in their toddler years before there is a time for any problems to develop. That way they associate the dentist with fun. However, we realize the ideal is not always possible. You were in that situation, but are still trying to do the best you can for your son.
The good news is he may not need as much work as you think. If his genetics are working in his favor and he’s done a good job keeping up with his oral health care at home, you may just get lucky. I once had a woman who wasn’t ever able to go to the dentist growing up. Her first dental visit was when she married. She came in at twenty five years of age very nervous about what she’d find. Would you believe that woman didn’t have even one cavity! The entire office was amazed. It was a combination of superior oral care at home along with fantastic genetics when it came to her teeth.
The first thing I would recommend, because you do not know what type of shape your son’s teeth are in, is that you go to a pediatric dentist that also offers dental sedation. For his first appointment, you may want to have them use nitrous oxide so that he is relaxed. This is very mild sedation. He can be awake the whole time. Let’s say, however, that at your son’s first check up, they find a bunch of things that need to be worked on. Don’t panic. There is a way to do that without him feeling any pain whatsoever.
There is another type of sedation you can use for his treatment appointments called oral conscious sedation. This will make him very sleepy. In fact, he’ll sleep through the entire appointment which will allow dentists to get more work done during each appointment. This is the fastest way to get him caught up.
I hope this helps you.
This blog is brought to you by Gilbert Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.