Just Going To The Dentist By Mercer Mayer

Why This Book Still Shows Up in Every Pediatric Waiting Room

Most parents end up with Just Going To The Dentist By Mercer Mayer because they need something to read to their kid before an appointment, not because they planned ahead. The book does what it promises. A child character named Little Critter goes to the dentist, gets nervous, and comes out okay. That is the entire story. It is also exactly why it works for the age range it targets. The plot runs about two pages of text. Little Critter is worried about his checkup. He asks his parents questions. The dentist is kind. A nurse shows him the chair. They count his teeth. He gets a sticker. There is no twist. Mercer Mayer wrote this as part of the Little Critter series, which had already been around since the mid-1970s. The illustrations are simple line drawings with flat color fills, designed so a five year old can track what is happening without getting distracted by detail. I have used this book in two different contexts. First, with my own kids, before their actual dental visits. Second, in a parent workshop where I discuss reading materials for anxious children. The common mistake I see is parents treating it like a comprehensive guide to dental hygiene. It is not. It is a single exposure narrative. It helps with anticipatory anxiety, not with teaching brushing technique or explaining fluoride varnish.

How to use it effectively

Read the book two to three days before the appointment, not the morning of. Kids process narrative better when they have some time between hearing the story and experiencing the real event. If you read it right before walking into the clinic, the imagery is too fresh and can actually amplify nervousness in sensitive children. I learned this the hard way with my older kid, who went from mild curiosity to full refusal after a same-day reading. We switched to the day-before schedule and the pattern improved immediately. Pause at the page where Little Critter sits in the chair and let your child ask questions. Do not rush through. The book works because it models the sequence of a real visit: waiting room, called back, mouth check, counting teeth, clean, sticker. That sequence matters more than anything else in the text. Some dentists will give you a copy at the office. If yours does not, you can find it at most libraries or buy a used copy for very little money since it is a mass-market Little Golden Book. The ISBN is 0307101282 for the paperback edition. It was first published in 1981 and has been reprinted dozens of times, which is why copies are so widely available.

The limitation nobody talks about

The book assumes a standard preventive checkup. If your child is going in for a filling, a crown, or a referral to a pediatric specialist, this story will mislead them. The dentist in the book does not use a drill. The visit lasts about five minutes in the narrative. A real restorative appointment looks completely different. I ran into this gap when a parent asked me if this book would help their child prepare for a pulpotomy. It would not. We ended up supplementing it with a social story my client wrote herself, tailored to the actual procedure. That took an afternoon but made a bigger difference than any published book would have. Another issue is repetition fatigue. Some kids want to read the same book ten times before the visit. That is fine. Some kids refuse to touch it. Also fine. Forcing it creates a negative association with the book itself, which defeats the purpose. I usually suggest letting the child pick it up when they are ready rather than making it a mandatory pre-appointment ritual.

Who it works for and who should skip it

It works best for children between ages three and six who are facing their first or second dental visit. The language level matches that range. After that, most kids have enough prior exposure that another picture book adds less value. For children with severe dental anxiety or sensory processing differences, this book alone will not be sufficient. Those kids often need a structured desensitization plan, sometimes including multiple practice visits with the dental team before any actual work begins. The book can be a small piece of that process, but it is not the whole thing. If you want something more comprehensive on the dental topic, there are other titles. What You Can Expect at the Dentist by Joanna Cole is slightly more detailed about procedures. But for a quick, low-cost, widely available option that just gets the job done, Mercer Mayer's version remains the default choice for a reason.