Dentists catering to kids use distractions to ease anxiety

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March 22, 2006

By Cass Rains The Enid News and Eagle Wed Mar 22, 2006, 10:56 AM CST

These days, it seems to be fun for a kid to go see the dentist.

Video games, televisions, music and toys to boot adorn the waiting area of Dr. Tim Fagan’s office.

“Here it’s really about the environment,” said Regina Sprague, a dental assistant in Fagan’s office. “We try to make it more kid friendly and less like a dentists office.”

The same is true at Dr. Erin Robert’s office, where hand-held video games are given to children about to go under the drill. The office even offers earphones for the video games, if the kids ask.

“They’re pretty much in control,” said financial coordinator Jodi Sharp of Robert’s office. “We don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do.”

Sharp said most of their exam rooms are decorated with posters of kittens and puppies, and all are painted in light pastel colors to create a friendlier environment.

“We have a little table (in the waiting room) where they can sit and color,” Sharp said.

Sprague said the environment they create in their office helps to keep children calm and remove some of the anxiety a child might have when visiting the dentist.

Both offices said they use some nitrous oxide to help with pain during procedures.

“We use nitrous, rarely,” Sharp said.

Distraction from the pending procedures could possibly be one of the most effective anxiety prevention techniques in each offices’ arsenal.

“We have video games in the treatment areas and they play with them while they wait on us,” Sprague said. “It kind of gets their mind off what is going to happen to them.”

Sprague said when working with children, their office has to deal with certain apprehensions.

“Maybe they’ve heard horror stories from their older siblings,” she said. “Often, it’s the unknown that can cause a lot of apprehension in the younger patients.”

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