Is there any word of caution when it comes to children and the dentist?!

Is there any word of caution when it comes to children and the dentist?

I mean more so getting fillings done and so on. My daughter is only 7yr old and I'm afriad to put her through anything that could cause grief later on. I know dental care is very important but if there is any neg. press about certain things I'd like to know.

She's already had a very bad experience with one dentist. When she was 5yrs old the dentist would not allow me to go in the room with her and attempted to remove a fragment of a tooth. He didn't wait for the numbing agent to work and she felt the pain....so she bit him!

Some offices have strict policies about having parents in the room when children have dental work, sometimes it allows the child to act up more than they would if they were alone. Our office has found the parents are usually an asset and help keep the children more calm by holding a hand, saying a few jokes or reminding them of a funny story and if the staff is kid-orientated they may try to help even before your daughter gets in the chair by putting her at ease. I would ask your dentist before you go for the appointment if they allow you to come into the room.
Numbing agents only work on the top of the tissue they don't numb below the surface and I doubt that previous dentist you had did any more than a topical application of the numbing agent (no injection into the tissue around the fragment). In that case yeah, she would feel the fragment coming out- but chances are, it was a pretty small fragment and he may have thought giving her an injection would cause her more grief than just removing the sliver from the lion's paw. As a mom, don't make it into a bigger issue than it is, she got through it and so did you.
Respectively, your attitude towards the dentist is what will have the biggest bearing on how your daughter reacts to the dentist. If she sees that you trust that dentist and you know he wouldn't do anything to harm your daughter she will trust him eventually too even when it means he has to do something that might cause her a little pain. If you don't trust your dentist find someone you do trust, ask your friends, co-workers who they go to. The best advertisement for a dentist is word-of-mouth and if a patient has nothing but good things to say about their dentist, trust that one.