Dental hygiene for young children is often ignored — most commonly because it is poorly understood. Too often, we believe we only need the dentist when things go wrong, rather relying on preventative medicine. Not only should infants and young children be taught about proper oral hygiene at home, they should also be made to visit the dentist at regular intervals to establish good habits and remove any fear that they may have.
My first dental appointment: When should you take your child to visit the dentist?
Your child’s first dental visit should be a happy milestone. It is advisable to take your child to visit the dentist right around the time the first primary teeth start appearing in the mouth. This could be between six months and one year of age. This visit is not something that the child is going to remember, and it will probably be the easiest dental visit you'll ever experience!
The idea of this visit is also to talk to the parents and help them understand all the do’s and don'ts that the parents need to be careful about at this age. No X-rays or any other intervention is usually needed at this stage. Parents are also doing themselves a favor by taking their child to the dentist before they've learned to fear dental appointments!
First dentist visit for a young child: What to expect?
Irrespective of how bad the situation of the teeth is, the first visit is all about making the child comfortable and trying to assess what treatment needs to be carried out.
Remember that children are going to be feeling anxious and nervous going into a strange and new environment. They don’t need to be scared further with threats or implications of horrific repercussions.
Some dentists will ask you to hold the child in your lap while they check the mouth. The dentist may familiarize the child with parts of the dental chair and make a playful story about them. Usually, the first dental visit should not take more than half an hour in all.
A simple examination of the mouth will include looking at the teeth under the dental chair light to see if any signs of tooth decay are present. If the child has a complaint of pain, that specific tooth may be tapped or probed to try and get an idea of what is wrong. Any swelling, redness of the gums, bleeding, or the presence of plaque will also be noted.
It is highly advisable to not get any dental treatment done on the first visit unless it is an emergency.
What can you do to make your child more comfortable at the dentist?
The process of making a child comfortable with dental treatment begins at home. Don’t reinforce negative stereotypes about dentists and fill your child with fear even before he or she enters the dental clinic. Fear is not a good motivator at all, and can end up creating a dentist phobia for life.
There are dentists who specialize in the treatment of children, called pediatric dentists. While any general dentist can do a check-up of a child, more complex treatment and behavior modeling may require the presence of a specialist. If your regular dentist is not a pediatric dentist, then don’t worry. Any qualified dentist will refer you to a specialist should the need arise.
The last and the most important thing that can be done to make the child more comfortable is to actually take the child to the dentist often. The first visit will be tough, the second will be better, and it will soon become a routine thing not to fear or worry about.
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