Convincing your children that they need a trip to the dentist can be a tall order – and in some cases even more difficult to convince your spouse! However, routine dental exams and cleanings should be a major priority in your lives. Take a look below for a few tips on how to get your family to the dentist every time!

Start Early

When it comes to your kids, sometimes the unfamiliar can be scary. That’s why it’s important to take your children to the dentist as early as possible. By making a trip to the dentist a normal part of their routine, they will know what to expect from an early age. This also gives them a chance to hear about the importance of oral health care from someone other than mom or dad.

Tell Them What to Expect – To a Degree

Give your kids a brief overview of what they can expect when they visit the dentist. Explain that the dentist will be checking to make sure their teeth are healthy and strong, but don’t go into detail. Giving too much information may do more harm than good. If it sounds complicated or scary, getting them there will be a bigger challenge. Keep things positive and let them know that visiting the dentist is a necessary and good thing. But don’t make promises that you can’t keep! Never say that it won’t hurt or they won’t have to have a filling – if it turns out that something along those lines needs to happen, they may have a harder time trusting you going forward.

Explain the Benefits

Sometimes we just need to understand why something is so important in order to motivate us to participate. If your children are unaware how important good oral hygiene is they may just not realize how vital twice-yearly cleanings are. Explain to them that brushing, flossing, and visiting the dentist is the best way to keep teeth and gums healthy, to have fresh breath, and to avoid problems in the future.

Explain the Risks

Avoiding a visit to the dentist can actually put your health at risk. A twice-yearly dental exam can remove any plaque or tartar that you’ve missed while brushing. This can help prevent gum disease in the future, which is the leading cause of adult tooth loss in America. A visit to the dentist is also a good way to stay on top of potentially harmful health issues. Your dentist may be able to alert you to the early stages of gum disease, oral cancer, or a number of other maladies.

Convincing your family to go to the dentist can sometimes be a challenge, but it’s something that absolutely can’t be avoided. By taking the above advice into consideration, you should be able to persuade your family members to go in for their next visit with no trouble at all!