We recommend along with the Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry that your child see the dentist, preferably a pediatric dentist, by age one or by the time they have at least one tooth in their mouth; so by first tooth or by first birthday.
This first visit will be much more of an educational session for the parents or the guardians of the child to basically find out what the parents are doing at home to care for their child’s teeth. We like to ask questions about what tooth paste you’re using for your child, if any yet, what tooth brush is your child using, what beverages is your child taking in, what are they drinking it from i.e. bottles, sippy cup, breast feeding, and at what frequency are they drinking their beverages.
We can then discuss any concerns you may have such as; are their teeth coming in properly, do they have the right number of teeth for their age. This is definitely an educational session for the parents to find out what’s happening with home care practices and the care of their child’s teeth and their diet and hygiene. It’s also a chance to talk about habits your child might have including; taking a soother, sucking their thumb or fingers or other objects like blankets, or stuffed animals. It’s also the time to talk about history of trauma. Has your child bumped into anything, bumped their teeth, or had bleeding from the mouth. It’s a chance to discuss fluoride; is it good? How much?
The Pediatric Dentist will examine your child’s teeth in what we call a “knee to knee exam” where the child is sitting in the parents lap facing them and lies back into the Pediatric Dentists lap so that everyone can have a good view of your child’s mouth. There is a discussion about ‘is everything looking o.k. in the child’s mouth’? We will also put concentrated fluoride on your child’s teeth to help strengthen them and prevent cavities.
The appointment concludes with recommendations for any changes you might make to your homecare regimen to maintain your child’s oral health and prevent cavities.
We recommend your child see a pediatric dentist twice yearly on a six month basis to monitor growth and development, discuss home practices further and to check for any cavities that may have developed and to really focus on prevention and if necessary early intervention or treatment of cavities that might have formed.