What Are the Best Toys for a Dental Office?

If you’re a pediatric dentist looking to revamp your dental practice to make it more appealing to younger patients, you’re probably thinking of purchasing new toys for dental office to be able to offer more interesting activities to eternally-scared-of-the-dentist kids. Way to go, but choosing and equipping your facility with the most appropriate toys can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you’re new to this world and mostly focused on attracting new patients. Fret not, as we’re about to offer you a few actionable tips on choosing the best dental toys for your practice below.

What’s the purpose of toys for dental office?

Dental toys have a dual purpose. First, they are invaluable distraction tools that keep youngest patients’ dental fear and anxiety at bay, helping them better prepare for their dental treatment. Second, they’re responsible for creating an overall pleasant experience for kids, allowing them to be more relaxed, at ease, and ready to cooperate with you during their procedure.

The Most Common Types of Toys

From stickers, sugarless candy, and treasure chests to different educational and dental kits, dental office toys indeed come in a range of shapes and sizes. However, not all toys are suitable for every room in your office, so we’ve divided them into groups according to the area where they will serve the maximum purpose. 

Best Toys for Waiting Rooms

Nowadays, there’s a vast selection of dental toys that are bound to make your waiting room a peaceful oasis boasting various distracting activities. These can be anything from drawing boards, gaming consoles, vending machines, and other interactive toys. You can also include coloring books, crayons, and pencils in this area so that kids can indulge in their favorite pastimes such as coloring and drawing. Puzzles will also make a nifty addition to your waiting room dental toys collection.

Best Toys for Treatment Rooms

The treatment room is simply ideal for various treasure chests containing small toys and prizes and educational items such as stuffed animals with teeth or huge teeth models. These have yielded some exceptional results in teaching the importance of dental hygiene and should be your go-to items if you prefer a tell-show-do method and step-by-step explanations of dental procedures.

Home-Care Packs and Giveaways

What way to better send your little patient home but with a reward for their outstanding behavior? You can include giveaways, care packs, or take-home packs with personalized dental toys to celebrate their successfully completed dental appointments. These could also contain the name of your practice, your logo, phone, or email address. The best thing about them is that all vital information about your practice will constantly be within forgetful parents’ sight. Talk about the branding strategy!

How to Pick the Right Dental Office Toys?

Choosing the proper toys for your dental office isn’t rocket science, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly either. First, you need to ensure you’ve chosen the items that will add value to your patients’ lives. Opt for individually wrapped toys or have kids choose prizes themselves to further personalize their experience in your office and make them feel important and special. Figurines and plushies are timeless classics but you can also get creative with bracelets, sunglasses, or temporary tattoos. Even if you decide to send them home with a new toothbrush and nothing else, make sure it comes in bright colors and features some of the currently popular cartoon characters.

The Toys Can Help you With Your Branding Efforts

Believe it or not, the strategic selection and placement of toys all across your office can supercharge your branding efforts as well. If kids are feeling good during their visit when they use those toys or proudly go home with their well-deserved prize packs, they will start to associate this feeling with your brand, allowing you to build a better connection and relationship with them. Ultimately, this could help you keep your existing, and even gain more patients.

The Takeaways

There are countless benefits to having toys in your dental office. They can prove to be essential for reducing dental fear and anxiety in kids, creating a nice and calming atmosphere in your premises, and helping you with your overall branding efforts. That said, dental office toys come in a variety of shapes and sizes and should be strategically placed all over your practice to produce maximum results. Equipping your practice with a variety of toys will be a worthwhile investment, and is nowadays critical if you want to stand out from the crowd, attract new, and retain your existing patients.

Have you already considered investing in dental office toys? What toys do you think are the most important to have in your office? We look forward to hearing from you in the comments!