What To Say
- Read your child a book about going to the dentist
- Be positive about going to the dentist!
- Do not talk about being afraid of the dentist
- Do not talk about pain
- Answer your child’s questions about going to the dentist
- Establish a habit for your child of going to the dentist regularly
- A first dental visit should be a positive experience for your child
Basic Dental Terms
| The dentist calls it… | Adults say… | Parents, please say to your child… |
| Which problems do patients have? | ||
| Cavity | Hole in tooth | You have a sick tooth. You have sugar bugs in your tooth. |
| Abscess | Gum boil, swelling, infection | For little kids: there is “owie” right here |
| Fractured tooth | Broken tooth | Broken tooth |
| What dentists do: | ||
| Put mouth prop into mouth | Bite block | The dentist puts a tooth chair Or tooth pillow in your mouth so you can rest your teeth on it. |
| Give injection | Give shot; use needle; poke; injection |
Squirt some sleepy juice/water next to your tooth |
| Rubber Dam | Rubber dam | The dentist puts a rain coat around your tooth to keep your face dry. |
| Extraction | Knock out Yank Pull |
Your tooth turned into an owie and we will get rid of the owie; Wiggle a tooth out; Remove a sick tooth; Get ready for Tooth Fairy and Big Boy/girl teeth |
| Prepare the tooth for a filling / cavity preparation | Drilling | Clean the sugar bugs out of your tooth; Clean the sick part away |
| Restoration (filling) | White filling | Band-Aid Silver Star/Play-Dough White Star/Play-Dough |
| Sealants | Sealants; coating of tooth; tooth gets painted for the prevention of cavities | We paint something on your tooth to make your tooth smooth and strong, so the sugar bugs cannot get into it. |
| Pulpotomy | Root canal; Nerve |
Clean sick tooth and give it some medicine |
| Stainless steel crowns | Crowns; caps | Tooth jewelry Tooth baseball cap |
| Make an impression | Make an impression; make a form of the teeth | We have some pudding and make a model of your teeth with it. |
| Medicines dentists use: | ||
| Nitrous oxide | Gas, “laughing gas” | Special air Special perfume |
| Nitrous oxide mask | Gas mask | Scuba mask Airplane pilot mask |
| Sedative | Drug Put you under Put you to sleep |
Yummy medicine Special juice |
| Local anesthesia (numb) | Novacaine; make you numb | Sleepy juice |
| Instruments dentists use: | ||
| Immobilizer | Papoose board Restraint |
Butterfly blanket Surfboard |
| Suction | Suction; vacuum | vacuum, Mr. Thirsty |
| Air / Water syringe | Squirt water / air | Wash and dry the tooth; Mr. Wind, water gun |
| Explorer | Instrument; pick | Tooth counter; some of your teeth are itchy and I scratch them with this. |
| Scaler | Scraper | Tooth cleaner |
| Curing light | Light gun | Tooth hair dryer |
| Handpiece (high-speed) | Drill, Cut | Mr. Whistle Super Fast Toothbrush |
| Handpiece (low-speed) | Drill, Cut | Mr. Bumpy |