All children deserve dignity and quality dental care. Children show a wide range of different temperaments. As a pediatric dentistry specialty office, we are trained to have a wide range of behavior guidance techniques to meet the needs of every patient. Behavioral management consists of simple and complex techniques to treat children in a complete and constant process. This process helps with desensitization to establish a positive relationship between the child and the pediatric dental team, which decreases phobia and anxiety. This, in turn, creates an adult dental patient that will follow up with routine dental treatments without dental anxiety.
Our Philosophy to Child Behavior Guidance and Management
Serving Sommerville, Flemington, and surrounding areas, Dr. Kruti Sanghavi is a board-certified pediatric dentist with experience in behavior management. Besides brushing, flossing, and maintaining oral hygiene, your child needs regular visits to the pediatric dentist to establish a rapport. Floss Boss Pediatric Dentistry strives to provide quality dental care for all children in a unique and nurturing environment. We are willing to work with speech therapists, ABA therapists, and other health professionals to provide a customized approach to desensitizing children. Plus, we want to make the experience as fun as possible for kids!
Our Approach to Child Development and Behavior Guidance
One of our top goals is to help your child positively associate with the family dentist’s office, so we focus on the idea that children need skills and support to behave accordingly (not a punishment). As parents and caretakers, we want to gently guide and teach children to become cooperative, kind, and considerate community members—not just for them but for the people around them too.
The Floss Boss dental office provides different techniques ranging from:
- Desensitization
- Tell-show-do
- Distraction
- Hypnosis
- Sedation dentistry (Nitrous oxide, IV sedation, and hospital dentistry)
More information on the different techniques can be provided by calling or coming for a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions: Child Behavior Management
1. What is a guidance approach?
This involves teaching skills that they might lack at their stage of development, such as confidence, emotional self-regulation, and cooperation. While we focus on offering this in a dental office setting, there’s no reason that a young person couldn’t translate these skills into their daily lives.
2. Is it possible to guide behavior without punishment?
Let’s try to put ourselves in our kid’s shoes. If you were punished when you were a child, what did you think of that? How did it make you feel?
Empathy frames our approach to behavior guidance. Generally, kids need help managing strong, negative emotions (like frustration or stress), and our team is trained not to lash out at kids. For example, instead of punishing a child with a timeout, we give them space to calm down and then come back and talk about the issue when they are ready.
Stress-Free, Pain-Free Dentistry Visits Are Possible
Schedule an appointment with our pediatric dentist by calling (908) 495-6518 or booking an appointment online. Our patient Kids Dentistry team will be happy to assist you!
