A personalised book about the dentist

A trip to the dentist is short, but it's full of things a child doesn't recognise: a chair that moves, a lamp right overhead, instruments that buzz and have funny names. The unknown is often what feels hardest. Seeing themselves sitting in the chair makes the visit familiar before it has even happened. Your child sees what goes on, in what order and how it ends. Afterwards, the same book can become a way of telling others about the visit and feeling a little bit proud.

An ordinary check-up is calmer than many children expect. The chair goes up and tips back, the light comes on, and the dentist or hygienist looks with a mirror and counts the teeth. Sometimes they get polished with a little brush that whirrs and tickles. Water is squirted in and slurped up again by a tube that sounds just like sucking the last drops out of a glass with a straw.

In the book, the teddy can go first, your child can hold the mirror themselves, and the dentist can say what each thing is called before using it. If you like, the book can also show the waiting room, the staff saying hello and perhaps a sticker on the way out, if your practice usually hands them out.

Make the book look like your visit. Who's coming along, which cuddly toy will be held tight, what colour is your child's toothbrush? If a tooth is wobbly, or one has just come out, that can be woven in. If your child wonders about something in particular – the light, the noise, lying back – write it in, and the book will show exactly that, calmly and plainly.

A brother, sister or parent can go first in the book and show how it all works. Lots of children like to see someone they know in the chair before it's their own turn.

If you choose the 0–2 age group, a few words per page are plenty: open, look, sparkle, done. A three-year-old gets the visit in the same order it really happens. Slightly bigger children can ask their own questions in the book and get answers, and those who have turned ten get more room for the fluttery feeling beforehand and how good it feels when it's over.

Play dentists with the cuddly toys afterwards and count teeth with a teaspoon. Talk about what teeth do: the front teeth bite things off and the back teeth chew them up. A child has 20 milk teeth once they have all come through. And after the visit, a book about brushing teeth fits nicely.

You fill in the child's name, age and what they like, and upload a photo. The story about the dentist is written for your very own child, and the thirteen pictures and the cover are drawn from the photo in the style you choose. Brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents or the pet can come along, up to five characters. If you would like to include something that has happened lately, a trip or a lost tooth, just write it and it is woven in.

The eBook is ready a few minutes after payment. Read it, change the text and ask for new pictures until you are happy. Then order it as an A4 hardback book, printed and sent to your door, or straight to the child as a gift. Do add the audiobook or the colouring pages. Start creating the book or read more about the prices. Would you like to see a finished book before you decide? Browse our example books.