Hi everyone. I was just wondering when you started taking your kids to the dentist. My 20-month-old has all/most of her teeth. Getting her to brush them is another story!
My daughter is also 20 months so I asked my friend, a dental hygenist, the same question. She said probably 3 or so as long as there were no problems and didn't notice anything while brushing her teeth (such as spotts on the teeth). One thing that helps brush my daugher's teeth is doing it in front of a mirror so she can watch it and also having her sing "awwww" and then brushing while her mouth is open. It is a game but we get it done!
A lot of people will tell you to start at 1 year but it's a money making scheme. My brother is a dentist and says that 3 is fine unless there are any problems. Once they are 4, it's every 6 months for a cleaning.
Now.
I took my daughter with me when I went to the dentist while she was in her stroller so she'd get the gist of a dentist office. The dentist would count her teeth, etc.
By 2, we started seeing the pediatric dentist and we saw him up until last year when he passed away and instead of staying at the practice with a new dentist, daughter chose to just go to our regular dentist since she was almost 16 anyway.
A lot of people come down on dentist as scammers and I know some probably are but you are dealing with your child's dental health for life.
You can't start good teeth, gum, mouth health too early. Get the good habits instilled now, at home brush, floss, count, etc.
Make an appointment now, find a pediatric dentist though. A regular family dentist will do but there are several draw backs.
They won't have daily experience dealing with toddlers.
They won't have recent education and/or experience treating baby teeth.
They won't play with the kiddo and make them feel at ease.
They will put shot in their mouth and hold them down to do any work needed instead of putting them to sleep and doing it in just a few minutes in the out patient surgery center at the hospital.
It makes all the difference in the world to let them go in the doors and come out a few minutes later and when they wake up they are done and they want to go eat and play.
But your child is absolutely old enough to go have a check up.
I worked for a dentist for many years and he always told everyone to take their kiddo's in at three years old. Not really to do too much....mainly just letting them ride in the chair, learn how the instruments worked and "counted their teeth". If the children were cooperative, then they would try to polish the teeth. I took my son when he was three as well and I'm proud to say that he hasn't had any cavities in his ten years of life. Fingers crossed that it stays that way. He also started and is still going to a pediatric dentist which has worked out well. Good Luck!
I took my daughter with me when she was really young, probably with her 1st tooth. I just took her along with me when I was going for my check up, The dentist didn't really do anything just a little feel around the gums while she sat on my knee. If anything I just wanted her to get used to the dentist from a young age. My niece used to freak (still does and she is 12) when she went and I soooo didn't want that to happen to us. lol
Our dentist said starting at 1 year. I started taking mine at age 4, though.
I took my son at 4... He didn't show any signs of cavities, and I felt he would be a better "patient" if I waited longer.. Glad I waited~
Get a pediatric dentist referral from your pediatrician. Otherwise, if your dentists accepts children, give them a call. Ours "accepts" children, but prefers older kids (think 9 or 10), so we went with a pediatric dentist who specializes in little ones.
The general rule of thumb is three years old, becuase all of the two-year molars are usually in by then, but some dentists will see children as soon as they have any teeth at all. Expect that the first visit will be just sitting in the chair and looking at the equipment, unless the child is ready to go all out - lots of places are on board with wanting the dentist to be a good experience, and a gentle introduction is a good way to do that.
If you and dad have a history of good teeth, you can wait. If you have concerns, get that referral, and give them a call.
she should have had her first appt when she was 1 year old. she should go once a year at least. and as far as her brushing her teeth, just sit her down or stand there with her and brush them. if you dont want her baby teeth rotting and damaging her permanent teeth you need to take care of them.
Buy some toothbrushes and let her play with them. Brush her dollys teeth, etc. At that age my daughter LOVED "playing" toothbrushing. Made actual brushing time way easier as she loved all her cute toothbrushes!
I would say at three or four unless there is a problem. I would make brushing a fun game for my daughter and she usually does it herself. I do brush after she does to be sure (this upsets her) but I want to be sure I get the tough spots.
I know that the pediatric dental organizations will recommend going at age one. When I had my oldest child (age 16), the recommendation was still three years. I took both kids at age 3 for their first dental visit. We didn't go to a special pediatric dentist, just whoever Dh and I used. That was fine, and my kids have never had a cavity or anything. Good luck
I am taking my son in the day before his first birthday! At this age she will just check to make sure that everything is healthy inside his mouth and review proper cleaning techniques. I was able to find a pediatric dentist that did a free first visit if they are under 3 years old, so I decided to take him. Call around and see if someone has a deal like this in your area. After this, I will decide when I want to add him to our dental plan, since we can add him on with a click of a button as long as he is younger than 4 years old. The AAP and the AAPD both recommend by the age of one.
It really depends on your kid. You could take your little one now but when I took my son at that age he refused to let the dentist look in his mouth. I had to battle him to brush is teeth until almost age 3. My daughter was very cooperative and even allowed an X-ray at 2.5. Good thing she is cooperative since she is the one who needs dental work.
Our pediactric dentist doesn't like to see them until they are 3 unless there is a specific problem. They even charge extra for under 3. Due to genetic problems we've already had to take my daughter in before she turned 2 to have work done on damaged teeth and it was beyond a challenge. I can totally see why. We had to take my son in around 2 as well and it was horrible.
Because my daughter already had 2 teeth come in with defects they have waived the extra charge for under 2 finally and want us to take her in on a regular basis to catch any other potential problems before they cause issues. We've already been through that with my son.
Stupid genetically weak teeth! My other son has only had 3 cavities his entire life and he's almost 8 so it's nothing we're doing wrong with the other 2.
I took my first in at the age of 2. His pediatrician recommended it at that point. He has no problems with us brushing his teeth, but does for some reason get scared when the dentist does his. I think his fear tho' is because of the surgery he had when he was 2 not necessarily because its the dentist.
My youngest I took in at 18 months because there was some food I could not get out of the tooth and some discoloration from his iron supplements. It was really easy and quick, and they worked on the spot a little for me. they didn't even do any film for him. He had no problem with the dentist but he fights us regularly when we try to brush---so go figure!
I would say if your son's teeth look fine to you, you could wait until 2 or 3. I have a feeling my youngest is going to take after the side of my family that has horrible teeth. Plus he has really high, and small pitted teeth which I am guessing are going to be real problematic. I think its probably a mommy intuition before the age of 3. good luck
Our dentist suggested that he "take a peek" at his teeth each time I had to go, but that his first "official" cleaning happen around his 3rd birthday- unless he saw something before.
I don't know about all these kids on here, but there is NO WAY my son would let a dentist look in his mouth or sit on a chair. Seriously, he would bite their finger off. He's going to be 3 in January. I've heard some say 3 yrs old and some 1 (hah!) My little guy has had a serious aversion to doctors and the like since he was about 2 weeks old, or whenever he got his first shots, so taking him to the doctor is always h*** o* all of us. I do check his teeth regularly and if I thought there was a problem, I would take him to get checked out. I don't know how that would work but he would need to be restrained or something. My fear of this scenario is what drives me to keep brushing daily. Like your child, he hates brushing his teeth and always has. It is about the least favorite part of my day. I let him do it but he usually misses the teeth if you know what I mean. So I do it for him, then let him have a go at it. I've heard that we parents have to brush their teeth up until around age 7. One friend of mine who really struggles with her son allowing her to brush his teeth told me that she still uses a baby finger brush. I've never seen them but wish I had one when he was younger. Good luck!
