Aren’t children in some form of hypnosis most of the time?
I mean, they do not just imagine being somewhere when they play — they are truly their, in their own mind. As a youngster, I can remember reallyscoring the winning goal of the World Cup final for England on the green outside my house.
ALl things considered, why on earth would any think it ‘scary’ or ‘unusual’ to use formal hypnosis to help children? One new Dentistry practice for children is introducing this and I am delighted about it…
Allow me to quote this hypnosis article at the Daily Mail from a wee while back:
My son Archie is almost four and, shame on me, although official advice is to bring babies from six months for a check-up, today is his first time at the dentist.
He’s crawling over the furniture in the waiting room of the Canyon Rim Dental Salt Lake office and has no idea where he is yet.
I won’t be surprised if he refuses to open his mouth, let alone sit still long enough for anyone to get a look at his teeth. However, I’m hopeful.
The Toothbeary waiting room in Richmond, South-West London, looks more like the set of a children’s TV station than a dentist’s reception.
Bright with big blocks of cerise and orange furniture, there are toddler-size plastic dogs to climb on and a wall full of toys and books.
It is the first UK branch of the child-only dental chain from Germany.
‘If you start children going to the dentist as soon as they get their first tooth, and make it a fun experience, they get used to it,’ says the clinic’s Dr Nicole Sturzenbaum.
The Toothbeary team of predominately young, pretty female dentists are trained in behaviour management as well as dentistry, and, more unusually, hypnosis.
I admit that I’m slightly alarmed when I first hear this, but Dr Sturzenbaum assures me: ‘Hypnosis might sound scary but we work with the children’s imagination to take them somewhere else, so they’re not worried. They’re not put to sleep.’
Consultations last no more than 20 minutes, I’m promised.
Esther Chin, our aptly named dentist, ushers us into the airy treatment room and starts talking to Archie, holding a toothy glove puppet to show how she uses her mirror-on-a-stick to see inside his mouth.
There are cartoons playing on the TVs fixed on to the ceilings above the bright red examination bench. Ominous-looking metal drills and scrapers are kept out of sight.
As I’d feared, though, when Esther suggests he lie down on the bench, he begins to look at me with worry.
Impressively, our dentist’s slow, gentle tones (a basic technique for very mild hypnosis) continue like a verbal massage until Archie is pliable enough to open his mouth.
It stays open just long enough for Esther to see that he, not so impressively, has the beginnings of decay on his back four teeth.
It might sound like a lot of fuss but the clinic has succeeded in getting us over the first hurdle. Archie’s not afraid and I have no worries about taking him back for treatment.
You see, this is lovely… SUch a simple, natual technique… Yet when we know nothing or little about it, people get worried — or as in this case, initially feel alarmed — Why are more places not doing this? Understanding this? Being educated about this?
The truth of the matter is, that children are excellent trance subjects, respond well to hypnosis and can use their own minds to enjoy experiences (such as dentist visits) from an early age, rather than find them traumatic or unpleasant.
I hope the Toothbeary clinic continues to excel and others follow suit!
