Motivating the Pediatric Patient is an article that Susan Smedley wrote. In this article, Susan talks about the different methods she uses to motivate children to care for their teeth. She first talks about asking the children simple question about their oral hygiene habits. Susan mentions that using age-appropriate verbiage is the key to having children answer the questions. For example, asking short simple questions that a 5-year-old could understand can help children think about the question. In the article, Susan talks about brushing with water can help remove plaque and bacteria. She mentions this because in the district she works for includes low-income families that are not well educate about oral hygiene and do not have the money to …show more content…
I learned a lot about children and their oral hygiene needs. A lot of people may think that it is easy to clean a child’s teeth due to the number of erupted teeth. I believe it is one of the difficult cleanings a hygienist can handle. Children are very clumsy and inpatient. They can easily be distracted. A hygienist needs to be fast and very entertaining to grab the child’s attention. In this article, I learned that engaging children through the educational process could help grab their attention. I plan to use this tip during oral hygiene instructions. I believe this will help children understand the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene. Besides that, I plan to use disclosing solution to help children see the amount of plaque and/or bacteria they have. When reading this article, I learned that it is better to ask a child about his or her oral hygiene. As adults, we usually prefer to talk to the parents about it because we can easily get a response back. I believe it is better to ask the child first to get him or her involved. When communicating to a child, I plan to use simple sentences that can help him or her understand what is occurring in his or her mouth. Overall, I enjoyed reading this article because I learned a few tips that can help in the future and when I go and do the school