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It’s not uncommon to see parents coming up with creative and innovative ways to bring their kids to the dentist. There’s usually a lot of persuading, cajoling, and bribing happening.
You’re probably wondering if it’s just a natural reaction to dentists if it was influenced by television or any sort of medium they are exposed to, or if there’s a real explanation for this irrational fear of dentists.
It turns out that parents can passed it on their children.
The Scientists at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid have conducted a study that shows the significant role parents play in the transmission of fear of dentists within the family.
They studied 183 children aged 7 – 12 years and their parents and discovered that fear levels between fathers, mothers, and kids are intertwined.
As confirmed by their study, the higher the level of dentist fear or anxiety in one family member, the higher the level amongst the family members. It also exposes that fathers play a key role in the transmission of this dentist fear as they act as mediating variables. How? Most children pay more attention to the “emotional reaction of the fathers when deciding if situations at the dentist are potentially stressful.”
In order to combat this, the mother must play a more involved role and fathers need to show their kids that going to the dentist shouldn’t be feared at all. Having the ability to appear calm in the face of all that dental equipment is key and this conveys the right attitude to the kid.
How about you? Was your father or mother scared to go to the dentist?
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