When children are young and at their parents’ mercy as far as rides go, visiting the children’s dentist is often a simpler task. Although whining and crying may still ensue, the kids lack the capability to skip appointments. As time goes on, however, parents may have to find creative methods for encouraging their young adults to visit the local dentist office.
Discuss the Risks
Part of the proper lies in the fact that many teenagers do not understand the importance of proper dental hygiene. They may think that they do not have to worry about these issues until they are older. Parents can show their own mistakes they made by not taking care of their teeth throughout life, or they may want to share risks of avoiding the local dentist office that they found online. Parents should not look at this method as a scare tactic; they are informing their kids about the potential consequences.
Implement Punishments
Parents can easily find out if their under-18-years-old kids skipped appointments at the children’s dentist. Creating a punishment for failure to go to a dental appointment might seem extreme, but doing so will emphasize how important maintaining dental health is. For example, kids who skip their appointments might lose their cell phone for a week or find that they cannot go the big party this weekend. Teenagers will likely soon realize that the punishment is worse than the dentist.
Consider Rewards
While teenagers should not need rewards for taking care of their health, as optimal hygiene is a reward in and of itself, parents may need to use a bit of temptation at the beginning at least. Perhaps parents can offer a raise in allowance to teenagers who keep all of their appointments for a year, or maybe they can start to talk about buying a car once the teens have shown that they are responsible young adults who will make it a priority to take care of their teeth.
The teenage years are laden with battles that parents often have to give up; however, they should not surrender when it comes to dental visits. Going to the dentist is a part of lifelong health. To encourage teens to visit the dentist, parents and kids can call our office today to schedule an appointment to come in together.