Dr. Plant has treated children of all ages for many years. With experience she has developed an approach that has proven to be successful. When children are placed in what they may perceive as an uncomfortable environment, they must be treated with fairness and respect. Dr. Plant uses several techniques to treat children, which include paying utmost attention to their behavior and responses to treatment. We use simple, fun, animated words to describe dental terminology and often use the ‘show and tell’ technique. In other words, communicating with them constantly to make sure they have a comfortable experience.
In terms of ‘preparing’ your child for his/her visit, we ask that you refrain as much as possible from telling scary stories or explaining in detail what will happen at the dentist. Too many children have been traumatized by older siblings or schoolmates and this can affect their cooperation with the dental team. Reading a children’s book or watching a little video such as “Caillou” or “Arthur goes to the Dentist” may help to prepare them.
Sometimes we will recommend trying our very safe nitrous oxide sedation technique, which is more commonly known as “laughing gas”. This method has allowed us to treat many nervous young patients. Your child will be awake throughout the treatment but will be very relaxed, less apprehensive and will experience a decrease in their sensorial system. We will still be using anesthetic (freezing) but it will not bother your child as much to receive such freezing. Once the work is over, a few minutes of oxygen are given to your child and he or she will feel completely normal and alert once again.
In some cases, due to the child’s young age, or previous bad experiences, we might not succeed in treating your child in a safe and comfortable way. In these instances, we will then make the decision to refer your child to a specialist, called a pediatric dentist.
Dr. Plant and her team focus all their attention on your child throughout the treatment, and attempt to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. In order to facilitate these efforts, we ask that you as a parents understand our requests while working with your children. When your family arrives, we will ask you to wait in our reception area while your child is undergoing treatment. We will review this with you prior to treating your child and ask that you respect this request. A child will be much more distraught if we ask his/her parents to wait in the waiting room once he/she is already in the treatment room. Your child’s comfort starts with your support in the reception area when we come to escort your child alone to the treatment room. If we have ANY difficulty treating your child, or we feel your additional cooperation is necessary in the treatment room, we will not hesitate to invite you in. This is at the sole discretion of Dr. Plant or her associate dentist. If you think that your child will feel more comfortable in your presence, please let us know ahead of time in order for our staff to prepare the room accordingly.
We are excited to be able to build trust and confidence with your little one for their future dental visits.