Theriot Family Dental

My Son Won’t Sit Still for the Dentist

Posted by writeradmin

I’ve taken my son to the dentist twice, but he just won’t sit still. Both times my dentist said, “We’ll have to try again next time.” So for both appointments, which they did discount for me, he’s not actually been evaluated. I don’t know what to do, especially since he now is complaining that one of his teeth hurt. Any advice for a wiggly kid?

Jan

Dear Jan,

Family of four: mother, father, son, daughter
There are benefits to seeing a family dentist.

You mentioned that you are taking him to your dentist. Do you know if your dentist generally sees children? While there are some general dentists who love to see children, others do not. One way to tell is the age they are first willing to see them. If they will do a checkup and cleaning when they are a toddler, they are probably very good with children. However, if they want you to wait until they are say 5-8 years old, then you would be better off taking you son to a pediatric dentist.

Most dentists who work with children have tricks up their sleeves to calm them down or to keep them still. However, some children just don’t do well in the dental chair no matter how good the dentist is. One option if that is your son is to try some nitrous oxide. This is something that any sedation dentist will have on hand.

It is administered to your child through a nose piece they just breathe in. Nitrous oxide, sometimes dubbed laughing gas for the way it makes you feel floaty, is a great way to relax a nervous child in the dental chair. In most cases, the child is so relaxed they just fall asleep and remain that way throughout the procedure. Once completed, the dentist will switch the nitrous to oxygen. In just a couple of minutes, your son will be lucid and back to normal.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.