Parent Guidelines / Practice Terminology

Parent Guidelines

You may choose whether or not you accompany your child to the treatment room for his/her filling appointment. Although we sense that some children do better without parents present, we are open to having you with your child. If you choose to be present, we suggest the following guidelines to improve chances of a positive outcome:

  1. Allow us to prepare your child
  2. Be supportive of the practice's terminology
  3. Please be a silent observer-- support you child with touches
    1. This allows us to maintain communication with your child
    2. Children will normally listen to their parents instead of us and may not hear our guidance
    3. You might give incorrect or misleading information
  4. If asked to leave, be ready to immediately walk away
    1. Many children will try to control the situation
    2. "Acting out" is normal, but unacceptable during fillings
    3. This is intended to "short circuit" the control attempt
    4. We will continue to support your child at all times

These are very important ways that you can actively help in the success of your child's visit. We are confident that all will go well and hope these guidelines will help prepare you with confidence for the upcoming appointment.

Practice Terminology

In order to improve the chances of your child having a positive experience in our office, we are selective in our use of words. We try to avoid words that scare children due to previous experiences. Please support us by NOT USING negative words that are often used for dental care. These include:

DON'T USE

  • needle or shot
  • drill
  • drill on tooth
  • pull or yank tooth
  • decay, cavity
  • examination
  • tooth cleaning
  • explorer
  • rubber dam
  • gas

OUR EQUIVALENT

  • sleepy juice
  • whistle cleaner
  • clean a tooth
  • wiggle a tooth out
  • sugar bug
  • count teeth
  • tickle teeth
  • tooth counter
  • raincoat
  • magic air

This will also help you understand your child's description of the filling experience. Our intention is not to "fool" your child-- it is to create an experience that is positive. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us build a good attitude for your child!