Children Need Options!
I was recently talking with a physician friend about treating children. He doesn't see too many kids in his specialty, but for one procedure, he needs them to drink something. I asked, "what if they don't like the taste?" "Tough" he said. "This is all we offer so they take it or leave it." I laughed.
What I have discovered in 35 years of pediatric dental practice is that kids ( and parents too) need options. For parents, they need options regarding payment plans and scheduling times. We offer many choices for both of those concerns. For the kids we offer options of nitrous oxide to relax them thus avoiding a needle many times, prophy pastes with several flavors to choose from, different sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright light, three different types/flavors of fluoride, and many different stickers to take when they're done!
Every child is unique and understanding their likes and dislikes in something like flavors of a prophy paste or a particular superhero or princess sticker, can make all the difference in the world for a pleasant dental experience.