For parents

... is in the morning for me. Experience has shown that I am calmer and more rested at this time of day.

The influence of the time of day on children's behaviour when visiting the dentist should not be underestimated. Our tip: organise the day of the dental practice visit to be as free of stress and other appointments as possible. The time with us should be the only main attraction of the day. Please also make sure that your child comes to us as healthy and rested as possible.

... are completely fine. Nevertheless, I take centre stage and am guided through the treatment by the team.

As a parent, you can of course be present in the treatment room at all times - your presence gives young children in particular a feeling of security. However, we would ask you to remain in the background if you have any questions for your child and during the treatment. Our experienced team will guide your child safely through the individual steps. Don't forget: Your child is the centre of our attention.

Exceptions:

With increasing age or if a child becomes very focussed on you as parents, we even recommend that you motivate your child to go into the treatment room alone. This will allow your child to concentrate on us, making it easier to build up a level of trust. Of course, you will always be present for the initial consultation and important treatment information.

Critical questions about the treatment:

If you have any critical questions during treatment, please only raise them with us after the session - preferably in the absence of your child. This will help to maintain a positive atmosphere between you and us.

Note: If you have something specific on your mind before the consultation or treatment, please let us know when you make your appointment or at the latest at the registration desk. Thank you very much!

... are a wonderful thing (at least most of the time), but today it's all about me!

Siblings are very welcome at our paediatric dental practice. However, in order to make your child's visit as positive as possible, they need our full attention. We therefore ask that you only bring siblings who can occupy themselves, especially for treatment appointments. If this is not the case, please bring an accompanying person who will look after the sibling. Alternatively, discuss with your child that they can come into the treatment room on their own while you wait.

... only make me suspicious in this particular case and are therefore counterproductive.

The greater the promised reward, the more difficult the requirements that need to be met beforehand: experience has shown that the prospect of a reward makes your child unnecessarily suspicious. Things that your child may want very much also put them under too much pressure during treatment and can have a negative impact on the success of treatment. We therefore advise against giving rewards.

Our alternative:

After each successful session, we give the children a coin with which they can collect a small surprise from the gift machine. The children often observe how other children do this in the waiting room - and are then particularly motivated to earn a thank you.

... are clearly regulated in practice: Praise yes, scolding no.

We expressly ask you not to scold your child before, during or after treatment. It is probably not your child's fault that they have badly cleaned teeth or tooth decay. Instead, praise them for what they have done really well - even if it is a small thing. We may praise your child intensively during treatment. This is a deliberate part of our communication concept: the feeling of having done something praiseworthy erases anything unpleasant from the memory. In this way, the visit to the paediatric dental practice remains a good memory.

... or delays, please inform the practice in good time.

As an appointment-only practice, we reserve appointments for one child at a time and do not allocate them twice. In this way, we try to minimise waiting times and can focus exclusively on your child. Therefore, please always arrive on time for appointments or inform us by phone or email if you are going to be late. If you are unable to keep an appointment, we need your cancellation as early as possible - at least 1 day in advance. This will allow us to reallocate the appointment to another patient.

Background: Frequent cancellations at short notice or missed appointments mean that we can only offer you longer-term appointments.

Note: In accordance with §615 (1) BGB (German Civil Code), we are entitled to charge for treatment appointments that are not cancelled.

... are helpful for me because I can arrive in peace and settle in.

Experience has shown that a certain amount of familiarisation time in the waiting room has a positive effect on the appointment. Your child can arrive in peace, take off their shoes and play a little. We would therefore ask you to arrive at the practice a few minutes before your appointment. When planning the rest of your day, please bear in mind that treatment may be delayed. Each child requires a different amount of time, which is often unpredictable. As a specialised practice, we aim to treat each child individually. Spontaneous cases of pain can also affect our appointment book.

... play a major role for everyone involved in the treatment room (and afterwards).

Did you know that the child's subconscious doesn't recognise negations? Sentences such as "You don't need to be afraid" can give your child the idea that they should be afraid or feel pain. At our paediatric dental practice, the entire team is trained in fear-free, child-friendly communication techniques. We would therefore like to encourage you to adopt the wording we use.

Also avoid (false) promises such as "You'll be finished in a minute". Even after the treatment, questions such as "Did it hurt?" or "Wasn't that bad, was it?" should be avoided so as not to remind your child of an unpleasant feeling. The decisive factor for a positive experience is not the treatment itself, but the memory with which your child leaves the practice.