Question:
My son is 18 months old, and has never been to the dentist. His
pediatrician has told me to wait until he is old enough to where
I can tell him it is ok for this stranger to look in his mouth.
As far as taking care of baby teeth:
My son's pediatrician told me to brush his teeth 2 times a day,
and give him a glass of water (my son was almost a year before
he got any teeth). Dr also said not to give baby any milk,
juice, etc after his teeth are brushed at night.
Orajel sells a little kit with a tiny toothbrush and some goo
for brushing baby teeth. My son is past that and currently uses
the 2 year old brush and this blueberry flavored toothpaste.
Got questions?
Answer:
At what age do you take little kids to the dentist. DH is changing jobs and
the new dental plan is very expensive. We are thinking of foregoing it until
the kids will need to go. (we can get a whole bunch of stuff done before we
drop it.) What age would that be? DH thinks it's not until they get their
permanent teeth, but I'm pretty sure you have to take care of the baby ones
too. What gives?
Depends on the dentist, but I think the generally recommendation is
around two or three.
We are recommended to take our child to the dentist 6 months (I know this
comes from one of the "Academies", but can't remember which one.) after the
first tooth erupts. Well, we are going a little late, but my little girl
(16 months) has an appointment with a pediatric dentist on the 19th. Going
to a pediatric dentist is supposed to help with the fear issues and such.
The literature that they sent specifically said to be careful in discussing
the dentist around your child.
I do know of the mom of a three year old who had to take her daughter
for a couple of root canals in the baby teeth, so waiting might not be a
good idea.
I think this depends on who you ask. The pediatric dental assn. says 6
months, or when they get their first tooth, whichever comes first. MY
dentist (who is a general dentist, but sees kids too), said that 2 year
was fine for a first visit, and THAT visit was just really to get her
accustomed to the idea. He didn't actually clean her teeth until the next
visit. The pediatrician always checked her mouth at her routine visits
before she started seeing the dentist regularly.
(OTOH, you don't want to wait until the permanent teeth are in. As you
note, baby teeth need care too. I think, as long as the pediatrician is
checking their teeth and there are no obvious signs of decay or pain, you
can comfortably wait until your older one is 2 or so.)
I think the ADA recommends by or at 3 years, but my son's teeth were/are so
nice that I just brushed them twice a day, helped him floss 4-5 times a
week, stay away from loads of sugary stuff, and give him some fluoride drops
twice a week. I took him to the dentist for the first time when he was 4
1/2. It was still kind of a waste of time - the couldn't get any good
X-rays because he kept gagging on the film tabs, and the just ended up doing
a little polishing. But the dentist did check each tooth for decay (very
slowly and gently - because he kept closing his mouth). It wasn't bad at
all:) I remember going to the dentist as being very very traumatic - at his
age. But back then they were super crazy and parents weren't allowed to go
back. Um...my son, at 4+, doesn't go into ANY room with a stranger without
me:) But other than that, it was a breeze! Make sure you DO take them
though..my neighbors 2 year old has the nastiest rottenest teeth, and has
had several baby teeth pulled...if you don't get rotten/decaying teeth taken
care of - the can screw up the adult teeth.
