Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. My son is 13 and has autism and adhd.
He is scared of the dentist but does go and I sit in the room with him and reassure him when they are looking at his teeth.
However, last visit they said he has a cavity and needs a filling,
personally I don’t think he’s going to cope, but the dentist had told me they will be fine.
Is there anything I can do to help prepare him mentally for this? I have a horrible idea in my mind that as soon as they get the drill out he’s going to run away screaming. He’s terrified of anything medical and last time he had a blood test he had a full on meltdown and screamed the hospital down.
My daughter is the same, it took 4 people to hold her for a blood test. She is also nervous at the dentist she is fine with a check up but fillings take a bit more work, as she has no enamel on her teeth she has had to have a few now,
We worked out which tools she is ok with dentist showed her each one and what it did. For her it is the anesthetic, water drill and the thing they squeeze the filling in the hole with. So they use a bur and put the filling in manually, it is not great and it does need replacing but she doesn't get anxious. She also holds her toy to keep herself calm.
Dentists have got quite good at working with patients who struggle, at least some have so talk to the dentist and explain step by step to your son so he knows what is going on