Children's Dentistry in English: From Teething to the Tooth Fairy

Paediatric dentistry is the one area where half the vocabulary addresses the parent rather than the patient, and where some words exist nowhere else in dentistry: tell-show-do, Hall technique, tooth fairy.

This list covers 59 terms: teething and shedding, oral habits, caries in children, child-only procedures, behaviour management and home care.

Who this is for

  • Parents — a visit to a paediatric dentist abroad
  • Clinicians and hygienists — explaining a procedure to a child and a parent in English
  • Students — paediatric dentistry as examined

Word list to learn

Download PDF
Word
teething ˈtiːðɪŋ
teething ring ˈtiːðɪŋ rɪŋ
teething gel ˈtiːðɪŋ dʒel
teething pain ˈtiːðɪŋ peɪn
eruption chart ɪˈrʌpʃən tʃɑːt
first tooth fɜːst tuːθ
wobbly tooth ˈwɒbli tuːθ
tooth fairy tuːθ ˈfeəri
natal tooth ˈneɪtəl tuːθ
neonatal tooth ˌniːəʊˈneɪtəl tuːθ
eruption cyst ɪˈrʌpʃən sɪst
gum pad ɡʌm pæd
tongue-tie ˈtʌŋ taɪ
ankyloglossia ˌæŋkɪləʊˈɡlɒsiə
frenotomy frəˈnɒtəmi
thumb sucking θʌm ˈsʌkɪŋ
finger sucking ˈfɪŋɡə ˈsʌkɪŋ
pacifier ˈpæsɪfaɪə
dummy ˈdʌmi
tongue thrust tʌŋ θrʌst
mouth breathing maʊθ ˈbriːðɪŋ
nail biting neɪl ˈbaɪtɪŋ
habit breaking appliance ˈhæbɪt ˈbreɪkɪŋ əˈplaɪəns
early childhood caries ˈɜːli ˈtʃaɪldhʊd ˈkeəriːz
bottle caries ˈbɒtəl ˈkeəriːz
nursing bottle decay ˈnɜːsɪŋ ˈbɒtəl dɪˈkeɪ
baby bottle tooth decay ˈbeɪbi ˈbɒtəl tuːθ dɪˈkeɪ
sugary drinks ˈʃʊɡəri drɪŋks
night-time bottle ˈnaɪt taɪm ˈbɒtəl
hidden sugars ˈhɪdən ˈʃʊɡəz
snacking ˈsnækɪŋ
pediatric dentistry ˌpiːdiˈætrɪk ˈdentɪstri
first dental visit fɜːst ˈdentəl ˈvɪzɪt
child dental check-up tʃaɪld ˈdentəl ˈtʃekʌp
stainless steel crown ˌsteɪnləs stiːl kraʊn
strip crown strɪp kraʊn
pulp therapy pʌlp ˈθerəpi
indirect pulp treatment ˌɪndɪˈrekt pʌlp ˈtriːtmənt
extraction of primary tooth ɪkˈstrækʃən əv ˈpraɪməri tuːθ
interim therapeutic restoration ˈɪntərɪm ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk ˌrestəˈreɪʃən
atraumatic restorative treatment ˌeɪtrɔːˈmætɪk rɪˈstɔːrətɪv ˈtriːtmənt
Hall technique hɔːl tekˈniːk
silver diamine fluoride ˈsɪlvə ˈdaɪəmiːn ˈflʊəraɪd
preventive resin restoration prɪˈventɪv ˈrezɪn ˌrestəˈreɪʃən
behaviour management bɪˈheɪvjə ˈmænɪdʒmənt
tell-show-do ˈtel ʃəʊ duː
distraction technique dɪˈstrækʃən tekˈniːk
positive reinforcement ˈpɒzətɪv ˌriːɪnˈfɔːsmənt
voice control vɔɪs kənˈtrəʊl
parental presence pəˈrentəl ˈprezəns
child-friendly tʃaɪld ˈfrendli
dental fear in children ˈdentəl fɪər ɪn ˈtʃɪldrən
reward sticker rɪˈwɔːd ˈstɪkə
brushing chart ˈbrʌʃɪŋ tʃɑːt
supervised brushing ˈsuːpəvaɪzd ˈbrʌʃɪŋ
smear of toothpaste smɪər əv ˈtuːθpeɪst
pea-sized amount ˈpiː saɪzd əˈmaʊnt
school dental screening skuːl ˈdentəl ˈskriːnɪŋ
dental home ˈdentəl həʊm

Useful phrases

Click the icon to hear the pronunciation

Phrase
When should I bring my child for the first visit?
By the first birthday, or when the first tooth appears.
Is my child too young for a filling?
Baby teeth need treating too — they hold the space for the adult teeth.
She's very frightened of the dentist.
We'll just count the teeth today, nothing else.
Would you like to sit in the chair with your child on your lap?
Use a smear of toothpaste for children under three.
Brush your child's teeth for them until they are seven.
He fell and knocked his front tooth.
Is thumb sucking a problem?
It usually isn't, if it stops before the adult teeth come in.
Don't give a bottle of juice at bedtime.
Well done — you sat beautifully today.

A Child's First Dental Visit: Bottles, Dummies and Baby Teeth

Click the speaker icon to hear the full dialogue

Parent
This is her first dental visit. She's three, and she's already nervous.
Dentist
That's fine — the first visit is mostly about getting comfortable. I use tell-show-do: I explain, I show her the instrument, then I use it.
Parent
She won't open her mouth for me at home.
Dentist
Sit her on your lap facing you, then tip her head back into mine. At this age it works better than the chair.
Parent
She still has a bottle at night.
Dentist
That's worth stopping. A night-time bottle with milk or juice is the main cause of early childhood caries — the liquid pools around the upper front teeth while she sleeps.
Parent
She's had a dummy since she was a baby, too.
Dentist
Under three that's not a concern. If pacifier use or thumb sucking continues past four, it starts to affect the bite.
Parent
How much toothpaste should I use?
Dentist
A smear under three, a pea-sized amount from three onwards. Fluoride toothpaste — and let her spit, but don't rinse.
Parent
She wants to brush by herself.
Dentist
Let her start, then you finish. Supervised brushing until about seven — she doesn't have the dexterity yet.
Parent
I noticed a brown mark on a back tooth.
Dentist
I can see it — that's early decay. At this age I'd consider silver diamine fluoride: it arrests the decay without drilling.
Parent
Does it stain?
Dentist
It turns the decayed part black. On a back baby tooth that's usually an acceptable trade for avoiding treatment under sedation.
Parent
And when the front teeth start falling out?
Dentist
A wobbly tooth will usually come out on its own — don't pull it early. And the tooth fairy is welcome to it.
Parent
When should we come back?
Dentist
Every six months. We'll apply fluoride varnish each time, and place fissure sealants on the molars once they come through.

Common mistakes

Avoid these common mistakes

Wrong The child was very capricious during the appointment.
Correct The child was very uncooperative during the appointment.

Capricious means unpredictable or changeable and belongs to a literary register — capricious weather, a capricious ruler. It is not used of children in a clinic. The clinical word is uncooperative; with parents, use fussy, upset, unsettled, anxious or distressed. The positive end is cooperative, settled and calm. The area of practice is behaviour management, and the record entry is a behavioural assessment. The cognates mislead: Russian капризный, French capricieux and Spanish caprichoso all describe exactly this kind of child.

Wrong He still uses a nipple at night and falls asleep with a bottle.
Correct He still uses a dummy at night and falls asleep with a bottle.

A nipple is anatomical, or in American usage the teat on a feeding bottle. The soothing object is a dummy in British English, a pacifier in American English and sometimes a soother in Canada. The bottle part is a teat in Britain and a nipple in the US, so the same word splits both ways across the Atlantic. Related habit vocabulary: dummy sucking, thumb sucking, finger sucking, prolonged pacifier use — and the occlusal consequences, anterior open bite and posterior crossbite.

Wrong He does not want to open his mouth for the examination.
Correct He will not open his mouth for the examination.

Will not, and especially the contracted won't, expresses present refusal rather than future time: he won't open his mouth, she won't sit in the chair, the child won't let me look. Does not want to describes a wish and reads as weaker and slightly unnatural in a clinical note. The past form works the same way — he wouldn't open his mouth means he refused. Related phrasing: he refuses to sit still, she keeps closing her mouth, he pushes the mirror away, she is gagging.

Wrong She is very scared from the dentist since her last visit.
Correct She has been very scared of the dentist since her last visit.

Fear adjectives take of: scared of, afraid of, frightened of, terrified of — scared of the drill, afraid of injections. From marks a source and does not combine with them. The nouns are dental anxiety, dental phobia and needle phobia, and a common alternative is be nervous about — I am nervous about the injection. Note the tense too: with since, English needs the present perfect, she has been scared of the dentist since her last visit.

Wrong The upper incisors show caries of the bottle.
Correct The upper incisors show early childhood caries.

English forms this as a compound noun with the modifier first, not with an of-phrase. The clinical term is early childhood caries; informal equivalents are bottle caries, nursing bottle decay and baby bottle tooth decay. The same pattern governs the rest of the topic — fissure sealant, fluoride varnish, space maintainer, eruption chart. The classic presentation is upper incisor decay in a child who falls asleep feeding, so the risk factor is recorded as a night-time bottle.

About This List

Talking to a child: the techniques have names

This is the only part of dentistry where the manner of communication is part of the protocol, and each approach is named:

  • tell-show-do — explain, demonstrate, perform; the foundational technique
  • distraction technique
  • positive reinforcement and a reward sticker
  • voice control — a calm, firm tone used deliberately
  • parental presence — whether the parent stays in the room, a decision in itself

Around these: behaviour management as the umbrella term, child-friendly describing a practice, and dental fear in children.

Teething and shedding

Two different processes with two different words. Teething is the eruption of primary teeth and its symptoms: teething pain, relieved with a teething ring or teething gel. An eruption chart gives the expected order, and before teeth appear there is the gum pad.

The uncommon variants: a natal tooth present at birth, a neonatal tooth in the first month, and an eruption cyst over an erupting tooth.

Shedding is described in everyday words: a wobbly tooth, and the tooth fairy who collects it from under the pillow. That is not folklore trivia — the tooth fairy will come is said in surgeries daily.

Separately, the frenum: tongue-tie, clinically ankyloglossia, released by frenotomy.

Caries in children has four names

One condition, four English labels, all of them in active use:

  • early childhood caries — the formal term
  • bottle caries
  • nursing bottle decay
  • baby bottle tooth decay

Causes are described through the night-time bottle, sugary drinks, hidden sugars and snacking.

Habits that affect the bite: thumb sucking and finger sucking, the pacifier — dummy in British English — tongue thrust, mouth breathing, nail biting, countered with a habit breaking appliance.

Procedures adults never get

  • stainless steel crown — a preformed metal crown for a primary molar
  • strip crown — a clear former for anterior teeth
  • Hall technique — a crown seated with no drilling and no anaesthetic
  • silver diamine fluoride — arrests caries without a bur
  • atraumatic restorative treatment and interim therapeutic restoration
  • pulp therapy, indirect pulp treatment, and where needed extraction of primary tooth
  • preventive resin restoration, space maintainer

Home care is dosed by age: a smear of toothpaste for infants, a pea-sized amount for older children, with supervised brushing and a brushing chart. The system around it: first dental visit, child dental check-up, school dental screening, and the American concept of a dental home — one practice holding ongoing responsibility.

Terms that carry culture, not just meaning

  • Pacifier is American, dummy British, soother Canadian — three words, one object
  • Teat and nipple are the bottle part; a pacifier is not for feeding
  • Tooth fairy has no universal equivalent: Spanish-speaking children expect a mouse, Ratoncito Pérez, and French children la petite souris
  • Dental home is a US policy term and may not be understood in the UK
  • Hall technique is named after its originator and is left untranslated in every language
  • Wobbly is the word for a loose primary tooth; loose tooth suggests a problem in an adult

Frequently Asked Questions

In notes, uncooperative; with parents, fussy, upset, unsettled, anxious or distressed. Avoid capricious, which means unpredictable in a literary sense and does not describe a child in a dental chair — though the cognate does exactly that in Russian, French and Spanish. The positive descriptors are cooperative, settled and calm, and the discipline is behaviour management.

Dummy in British English, pacifier in American, soother in parts of Canada. The teat on a feeding bottle is a teat in Britain and a nipple in the US, so the same object splits both ways. Nipple on its own is anatomical, which makes it the wrong word for a soothing device in British usage. Habit vocabulary: dummy sucking, thumb sucking, prolonged pacifier use.

Early childhood caries is the clinical term for rapid decay in the primary dentition, classically affecting the upper incisors in a child who feeds to sleep. Informal names are bottle caries, nursing bottle decay and baby bottle tooth decay. Note the compound structure — English puts the modifier first, never caries of the bottle. The recorded risk factor is a night-time bottle.

Scared of — and likewise afraid of, frightened of, terrified of. From marks a source and does not combine with fear adjectives. Softer phrasing is nervous about: I am a bit nervous about the injection. The nouns are dental anxiety, dental phobia and needle phobia. Watch the tense with since: she has been scared of the dentist since her last visit.

Tell-show-do is the standard introduction technique: explain in age-appropriate words, demonstrate the instrument on a finger or model, then perform the procedure. It sits alongside distraction technique, positive reinforcement, voice control and parental presence within behaviour management. Handled well, it is the main protection against a lasting dental phobia.

The Hall technique seals a carious primary molar under a stainless steel crown without local anaesthetic, drilling or caries removal — the crown is simply pushed into place. It works by depriving the lesion of substrate. It belongs with other minimally invasive options for children: atraumatic restorative treatment, interim therapeutic restoration and silver diamine fluoride.

A smear of toothpaste under the age of three, and a pea-sized amount from three onwards. Brushing should be supervised brushing by an adult until around seven or eight. Afterwards, spit, don't rinse, so the fluoride stays in contact with the enamel. Professional prevention adds fluoride varnish and fissure sealants.

Learn words more effectively in the app

Spaced repetition, smart trainings and progress tracking.
Download OneMoreWord and remember words forever

App Store Google Play

Related lists

Mouth Anatomy in English

Tooth Anatomy in English

Types of Teeth in English

Dental Symptoms in English

Dental Diseases in English