Chocofresa fingers
Daniel arrived happily at his first appointment with a pediatric dentist this week. His parents were more nervous than he was since it was Dani's first visit and because they knew he had "caught them late" in bringing him. I explained that there is no afternoon or early, and that the good thing is that they came and we will be able to start working on Dani's oral care.
Dani had just turned 4 years old, the parents told me that they have not had any problem with Dani's teeth, that the brushing time is wonderful and that she almost does not eat sweet things; The problem for which they brought it is that it does not stop "sucking your finger" or as we call it pediatric dentists: it has a habit of digital suction.
Whenever a child has this habit, I ask them how they feel about it. The little ones are shy; the bigger ones usually tell me that they want to leave because they feel sorry that their classmates realize that they need help; others who never want to leave because it calms them; but some like Dani say something totally different:
-Dra. Dani: "Dani, how do you feel when you are with your finger in your mouth?
-Dani: "Very good."
-Dra. Dani: "Would you like to stop sucking your fingers?"
-Dani: "No!"
-Dra. Dani: Why not?
-Dani: "Because they taste delicious."
-Dra. Dani: Really? What do you know?
-Dani: "This strawberry and this one chocolate. And if I use both at the same time, they know the chocofresa queque that I love to eat. "
I think that with that phrase ended my conversation with Dani, I had nothing to discuss or add at that time. The parents started to laugh because he had never told them that their fingers had flavors, and they were impressed with their response.
While Dani was playing with the toys at the clinic, I explained to the parents what we could start doing at this moment due to the maturity and age of Dani. The first thing I wanted to make clear is that the habit of digital suction is something that children who have love it, I always ask the parents if they have a habit that they can not stop doing and most of them say yes. , who can not not drink coffee because they feel bad. Then I explain that removing the child's finger is like taking their coffee from one moment to the next, that they must understand the child's dependence and that we should not remove it suddenly because they would feel it as a punishment.
So I gave Dani's parents these important tips: talk to the child and explain that what he does is affecting the teeth and the bite, setting small goals and moving forward little by little (they will not be asked not to perform the Habit all day, but they are told "while we watch television we will try not to suck our finger of strawberry or chocolate and if we do it for 6 days in a row we will go to celebrate the park", for example), do not scold them but to understand them and very important to ask them how they feel in the process.
Dani had two flavors in her hands, some have one and others none, I know that little by little we will be helping Dani so that habit does not affect her teeth along with her potatoes. Teamwork is the key always, if we all put a grain of sand we reach the goal faster.