Your child’s first teeth have started to come in. You may start to wonder when you should bring your child to the dentist, and what to expect at the first dental visit. We encourage the assessment of infants, within 6 months of the eruption of the first tooth or by one year of age. The goal is to have your child visit the dentist before there is a problem with his or her teeth. In most cases, a check up every six months will let your child's dentist catch small problems early.

We recommend your child to see the dentist by age two or three, when all the baby teeth have come in. These are 3 reasons to take your child for dental check-ups:

• You can find out if the cleaning you do at home is working.
• Your dentist can find problems right away and fix them.
• Your child can learn that going to the dentist helps prevent problems.

The first dental appointment gives your child an opportunity to meet our team and become familiar with the office. The visit is usually short and involves very little treatment. We may ask the parent to sit in the dental chair with their child during the examination. The parent may also be asked to wait in the reception area during part of the visit. The dentist will determine what is most appropriate during the first few minutes of the appointment. During the examination, we will check all of your child’s existing teeth for decay, examine the child’s bite, and look for any potential problems with the gums, jaw and oral tissues. We may want to take X-rays. X-rays show decay between the teeth. They will also show if teeth are coming in the way they should. We may talk to you about fluoride.

When your child goes for a check up, we can tell you if crooked or crowded teeth may cause problems. In many cases, crooked teeth straighten out as the child's jaw grows and the rest of the teeth come in. If they do not straighten out, your child may have a bite problem (also known as malocclusion). This can cause problems with eating and with teeth cleaning. Depending of the severity of the crowding we may suggest to treat this with preventive or interceptive care. A referral to an orthodontist may be suggested for comprehensive treatment.  

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Your Child’s First Visit

Many parents wonder when they should start bringing their child/children to the dentist.

Decay can occur in the teeth within 6 months of eruption. Based on that information it would not be too soon to see a childe between 1 ½ and 2 years of age.

We encourage parents to get their young ones in sooner that later. First visits we keep simple. A ride in the chair, counting the teeth and a discussion on home care.

It is nice to have your child familiarized with their dental office and team. If a time arrives when he or she needs dental work done due to decay or an accident, it is much easier on children & their parents when they arrive at a familiar place with familiar, caring faces.

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Frequently asked Questions

My child needs a filling in a baby tooth. Since the tooth is going to fall out, why bother?

Some primary (or baby) teeth will be in your child's mouth until age 12. It is important in the development and eruption of the permanent teeth to maintain these primary teeth.

Broken teeth, decayed or infected teeth can hurt your child's health.

To do a filling, we remove the decay and "fill" the space with metal, plastic or other material. A filling can be an inexpensive and easy way to fix a problem that could be painful and become expensive to fix later on. If a filling is not done and decay spreads, the tooth may need to be removed. If this happens, a space maintainer is required to hold space for the permanent tooth.

When a baby (or primary) tooth is missing, the teeth on each side may move into the space. They can block the permanent tooth from coming in. To hold the space, your dentist may put a plastic or metal space maintainer on the teeth on each side of the space, to keep the teeth from moving in.

With a pleasant first visit, and regular check-ups, your child will not think twice about trips to the dentist. Have fun with your child at their visit!