MEDICALLY COMPROMISED CHILDREN.
DE-SENSITISING APPOINTMENTS
Some children with ASD diagnoses may have significant anxiety about going to the dentist. This may result in uncooperative behavior and difficulty complying with any dental procedures. Desensitization techniques and a gradual approach to learning to tolerate dental procedures may be necessary. This will involve a series of short visits to the dental practitioner. Each visit should involve practicing a specific behavior and should end on a positive note. For example, a first visit may simply involve walking into the dental practitioner’s office. Other initial steps might include the following:
- Walking into the exam room
- Sitting in the exam chair for 5 seconds
- Sitting in the exam chair for 30 seconds
- Sitting in the exam chair for 1 minute
- Sitting in the exam chair for 5 minutes
- Sitting in the exam chair for 10 minutes
Sitting in the exam chair for 15 minutes
- Sitting in the exam chair and opening mouth
- Sitting in the exam chair while allowing the dental practitioner to count teeth
- Sitting in the exam chair while allowing the dental practitioner to brush teeth
During each step, a child may require distraction. Also remember to provide rewards to the child for completing each step successfully.
