My 5yo has her very first cavity…she has a dentist appointment on Wednesday to get it fixed but they don’t use laughing gas. I’m so nervous because she doesn’t do well with needles. She likes the dentist in general but we have more rural clinic so it’s a rotation of doctors and not just one. How can I help her?..she doesn’t know she has to have a needle in her gums to numb it and I don’t know how to explain it without freaking her out. I really don’t want her to not like the dentist after this.
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They should give her a liquid medicine to swallow (promethazine) that will help her relax and make her mouth a little dry. Then They’ll put a topical numbing medicine on her gum so she won’t feel the needle stick nearly as much. She’ll be fine!
Ask if they have the topical lidocaine. It’s like a gel they put on the gums before injecting. Even as an adult I ask for it because I’m a total whimp. Lol it’s hard when they are so little if the see the needle it looks huge but really it’s not. Our dentist has a TV above them so they can choose what they watch as a distraction. Hopefully yours does too. It helps a lot. Also is you do give the liquid sedative be careful. Some kids have an adverse reaction. My oldest took it got super loopy but fought against it and was awake. They strapped him to a board at 4 yrs old to pull teeth I told them to fix a year prior but they waited til he was 4 and the insurance didn’t cover it as a filling. Instead they went to pulling them. It was anawful experience.
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The dentist should have rub on numbing creme that could be applied first to numb her gums up a bit, less of a pokey feeling and more of a pressure feeling?
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The numb them first with oral swap and they distract them and do not show them the needle. You’re more worried than she is and you will make it worse if you tell her things.
They will numb her first. Just make sure to distract her so she doesn’t see the needle! Good luck!
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If you are nervous, it won’t help her! They usually put lidocaine gel on first so you don’t feel the injection. And try to make sure she brushes her teeth properly as the tooth fairy pays more for good quality teeth.
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I’m sorry but for a 5 year old to have a cavity is just terrible I think. I have 3 kids and they didn’t have cavities until at least 15 or so. More brushing and less sugar. This is just my opinion.
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My 5 year old had one a couple months ago and the dentist told us they use another option that young and don’t like to give shots or drill, it’s a liquid antibacterial they brush on the tooth, it kills the bacteria then fills in the cavity on tooth. Was super easy and painless.
They have numbing crème they use so they won’t feel the needle. She won’t even know if you don’t tell her
Isn’t that young for a cavity?
Just tell her to close her eyes…she won’t see the needle coming
They can give her oral sedation or topical pain gel.