Extra Support: Nurturing Children with Special Needs, Anxiety, or a Fear of the Dentist

The dentist’s office can be an uncomfortable place for many folks, whether neurotypical or neurodivergent. After all, most dental offices are filled with bright fluorescent lights, loud buzzing, and sucking noises, and of course, the looming possibility that you might have a cavity that requires a filling or root canal.

For people with special needs in particular, all of these stimuli and potential “what-ifs” can be extremely triggering. It’s important to know you and your little ones are not alone. Did you know that 1 in 5 kids experience fear of the dentist and those who do are about twice as likely to act out negatively during dental visits?

Thankfully, at the Super Dentists, we work hard to build a fun, supportive, and educational culture so that kids of all ages (and their parents) feel safe, at ease, and know what to expect, thereby minimizing dental anxiety.

But there are some things you and your little one can do to help alleviate fear of the dentist in addition to choosing a dentist’s office that is committed to providing a safe space for everyone.

Fear of the Dentist: It’s More Common Than You Might Think

“My child freaks out at the dentist!” ─ it’s something we hear a lot here at The Super Dentists. That’s because dental anxiety is very common, affecting some 20% of kids.

Still, it can be challenging for parents like you who have to balance your kids’ physical health and need for dental care with their mental health and emotional well-being. The last thing you want is to create more fear and inadvertently cause your little one to avoid going to the dentist as an adult.

So, what exactly are you to do? While there’s no checklist or magic pill for “how not to be scared of the dentist”, there are some concrete steps you can take to make dental check-ups less triggering and scary.

How to Help Your Kid Get Over Fear of the Dentist

Dental fear and anxiety is a multifactorial issue, with contributing factors including general fearfulness or anxiety, parental influence, and negative past dental experiences.

There are certain contributing factors you may not be able to control, such as if your little one has a diagnosable condition such as anxiety or autism, or such as past experiences.

But in controlling what you can, you can go a long way to alleviate fear and anxiety and help your child associate the dentist with good things and positive outcomes!

Here’s a list of tips and strategies to help your little one be less afraid of dental visits.

First, Tackle Your Own Fear of the Dentist

Have you ever been a dog parent? If so, when training your doggo, you might have realized that half the battle is in adjusting your own attitude, behavior, and expectations.

The book “The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia B. McConnell, PhD discusses this very subject. It invites pet owners to engage in a paradigm shift by focusing on themselves before their animals to make training easier. Not quite intuitive, but definitely impactful.

How does this relate to parenting and dental fear, you may ask? Well, like our beloved four-legged friends, children often pick up on their parents’ feelings, even when we don’t realize it.

By addressing your own dental anxieties, you may help set the stage for a more positive experience for your child. (There’s no shame or blame here, just a call for you to note if this has happened and course-correct where possible!)

Regardless of what’s happened in the past, you can make the decision to model positivity and set a good example for your little ones going forward, which we’ll get into more with the next three tips…

1. Choose the Right Dentist and Start Early

Pediatric dentistry is different than adult dentistry in a few ways. As our own Dr. Hoss notes, pediatric dentists “are not only very good at everything related to the technical dental needs of the child, but they are also great at understanding child behavior and working with children who have special needs.”

That being said, choosing a pediatric dentist and starting visits early can be extremely helpful in alleviating dental fear and anxiety.

• Choose a pediatric dentist: They are specially trained to create a comfortable and positive dental experience for kids.
• Begin visits early if possible: Aim for the first visit around the time the first tooth appears or by 12 months old.

2. Set a Positive Tone and Empower Your Child

Modeling excitement about going to the dentist and taking your kids to your own dental check-ups can be fantastic ways to empower your child to love the dentist (or at least be less afraid of visits). Follow these tips:

• Speak positively about the dentist: Share your positive experiences and avoid negative language or stories.
• Encourage questions and let the dentist answer: This fosters trust and understanding.
• Play “dentist” at home: Make dental care fun and familiar through pretend play.

3. Maintain Consistency and Offer Positive Reinforcement

You know what Mary Poppins says ─ a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down! Okay, so maybe sugar isn’t the best analogy due to its cavity-causing properties, but the point remains: providing an incentive to go to the dentist works wonders! So does providing your kid consistency. We suggest you do the following if possible to alleviate dental fear:

• Stick with the same dentist: Consistency reduces anxiety and builds a trusting relationship.
• Offer a small reward after the visit: This creates a positive association with dental appointments.

Choose a Dentist for Children with Autism, Anxiety, & Dental Fear

As mentioned, choosing the right dentist is half the battle in alleviating your little ones’ dental fear. After all, you can do all the legwork of modeling visits, providing positive reinforcement, and more, but if your kids have a bad experience at the office, they could be left distrustful, bewildered, and disappointed.

Let The Super Dentists help your child get over their fear of visiting the dentist.

We are committed to providing a different kind of pediatric dental experience and have a unique experience providing special needs pediatric dentistry. Our staff will take good care of you and your family, regardless of past experience and current comfort level.

Learn more about how kids can overcome dental anxiety, and book your appointment today at The Super Dentists!