30
2016
How to prepare a toddler for his first tooth filling
We took Ayden for his first dental check-up earlier this month. It was all good but shortly after, the Daddy noticed a hole on one of Ayden’s molar. We called the dentist and he said as long as we take good care of it and brush his teeth using adult’s toothpaste, he should be fine. We were also told to monitor that tooth to see if it deteriorates any further.
A week ago, Ayden started to complain of sensitivity so we knew it is time to get filling done but were afraid that he might not be able to sit through it. We decided to prepare him before sending him to the dentist but how do you prepare a toddler for his first tooth filling procedure?
I know we are not supposed to tell Ayden too much or we’ll frighten the boy even more. Keep information to the minimum yet enough to let him know what to expect. What we did was to do a mock dentist visit every night before bedtime.
The dentist is always using bright light so we covered Ayden’s eyes. We told him we will cover his eyes during the dental procedure.
The daddy uses toothpick to pretend picking on Ayden’s teeth. This is to prepare him when the dentist cleans his teeth.
That was all we did. We told Ayden to keep his mouth open when the dentist is working on him and not to bite the dentist’s fingers.
The day came today. We brought Ayden to the dentist and true enough, he said he’ll need to do filling for Ayden.
Check out the video of my little hero’s first tooth filling. You can even hear him sigh at almost the end of the video because his mouth is already tired
Contrary to what we believe, the dentist told us that the hole on Ayden’s molar wasn’t primarily caused by caries. It was more because of friction in his case. Ayden sometimes bites his teeth in his sleep and that may be the root cause. The caries is the secondary cause of the hole and we were told to continue keeping his teeth clean.
Total bill for today is RM50.
Dentist? *faints*
Dont faint! Ayden did not so must you :P
Wah you really creative. I like your idea to prepare him like that!
Have to ler. We were also afraid that Ayden may not be able to sit through the procedure but thank goodness he did lah :)
Good boy. I would be scare as I never like seeing a dentist.
Telling you the truth I have not yet bring all my kids to dentist check up. Lazy me. I know I should. Sigh.
Your school going kids will get their teeth check at school right? Ethan did.
wah, ayden is such a brave boy! Only 2 something years old, he dares to go to the dentist for a filling. Both his parents did a good job to prepare him for it with the mock trips to the dentist every night, hehehehehe. Good job! Great parenting! RM50, so cheap! what type of fillings did the dentist use? the white ones or those old type grey ones?
The dentist used the white ones. It was the quick to apply but ‘late setting’ type. Ayden was not allowed to drink water or eat for at least 45 minutes after the procedure.
Thank goodness our preparation helped him sit through it all calmly. I was quite nervous too. Haha.
Sam did her filling too but she did quite a good job of not crying during the process >_<