In Dental Health Week, Murrumbidgee Local Health District’s Mobile Dental Van visited Mount Austin Public School to help the students get an important job done – their dental check up!
Oral Health Therapist, Hope Pressler, said it is important to make sure the students have a good experience, as for some it may be there first experience of the dentist.
“I try and steer away from telling them they are brave – because being brave can be associated with something bad or scary, or something you didn’t want to do,” said Hope.
“Instead, I just tell them that it a very important job they are getting done, and that I am very proud of them.”
The Australian Dental Association’s Dental Health Week campaign has a few tips for preparing a child to see a dentist:
- Play dentists at home, practice counting your teeth
- Talk positively about seeing the dentist
- Don’t tell your child to ‘be brave’ – there is nothing to be scared about!
- Don’t tell them stories about your negative experiences, or use works like ‘pull’, ‘needle’ or ‘drill’.
To access a public dental clinic in Murrumbidgee Local Health District call 1800 679 336 or head to the for contact via webchat.
