Child’s play

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With soaring obesity and diabetes rates in children, paediatric dentistry is more important today than ever. Dentists lacking the skills to communicate with their younger patients, stand to risk losing out on a long and rewarding relationship. But for dentists dealing with children, particularly in the Middle East, there are many considerations to take.

The term paediatric dentistry, applies to dealing with patients from birth to the age of 16, and children are at different stages of development, during this period. Reading a child's behaviour is key to effective paediatric dentistry, and this can prove to be a tricky task, as each child has their own, often expressive, personality. Some children need time and an opportunity to feel relaxed, others respond to voice control. Raising or lowering your voice can have great effect, and with others need you to be firm. Dentists cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Whether its language development, mental development, social, psychological, they're still growing," notes Dr Foroogh Abdalla Khadri, paediatric dentist at the UAE's Ministry of Health. She advises a tailored approach is necessary, arguing that you can't treat children as ‘mini-adults'.

Getting it right first time

The relationship with a child begins with their first visit to the dentist. It is crucial to ensure the child's first visit is to be a pleasant one, in order to build up trust with the child. One way to do this is by booking them 10 minutes before you can see them, and asking your nurses to let the child get acquainted with the clinic. Show them an introductory video, depending on their age, and let them go into the surgery to explore and see the tools. Make the experience fun. Let them play in the dental chair and explain what each tool is used for.

Tell them you are not going to lie to them or scare them, and once that trust is established, if the dental treatment hurts for any reason - whether the numbing didn't work very well or if it was a long and extensive dental treatment - the child will not complain because they now have trust in you. If you start on the right step, it can all go very well.

However, it is imperative to start with less invasive treatment for introductory visits, before moving on to any intensive treatment, as this often causes problems. If you ask the child to open their mouth, see they have a cavity, decide to give them a filling and the give them a injection, quite often you've lost the child's cooperation for good. "If you just put them down and start drilling, the child just goes out of control, they start screaming, they don't know what's going on," warns Dr Nora Tleel, paediatric dentist at Dr Nora's Clinic in Jordan.

If you prepare them ahead of time, tell them they're going to feel funny, like the tooth is asleep, then when it happens, the child is not scared. Let the child know what is going on, let them be part of the treatment and let them feel like they're being involved in the decision, that's the most important thing; to establish a relationship.

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