Tips on Caring for Your Child After a Dental Procedure

Having a dental procedure can be stressful for a child, but it’s common for the anxiety to persist once the procedure is finished. Some children wake up from a procedure still feeling nervous. Luckily there are ways to ease a child’s post-procedure anxiety and stress.

Caring for Your Child After a Dental Procedure

Below are a few things you can do to help make sure your child is comfortable and stress-free after he or she has dental work:

• Make sure that you’ve set aside enough time to spend with your child after his or her dental procedure. This is because the mouth can stay numb for several hours after leaving our office, depending on the procedure. Many children may accidentally chew on their lips or tongues, causing damage without even realizing it. It’s important to keep a close eye on your child after his or her procedure to make sure they don’t hurt themselves.
• Plan to have an easy-going day after your child has dental work done. Watch a movie or a favorite television show, read books, cuddle on the couch, or do other mellow activities. This will allow you to keep a close eye on your child, spend some quality time together, and provide comfort.
• Lastly, make sure to have soft foods available once your child gets hungry. Chewing on food can cause your child to accidentally chew on the tongue, lips, or the insides of the cheeks. We will provide you with food recommendations after your child’s procedure, but plan to have soft foods such as soup, applesauce, pudding, or Jell-O on hand before moving to solid foods.

At Firestone Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, your child’s comfort is important to us. We want all of our little patients to have a calm and stress-free visit to our office. To make an appointment or if you have questions about after-care instructions, please contact our Firestone, Colorado children’s dental office today.