What age do you start your children at the dentist

Silver Member Joined: Sep 23 2007 Posts: 504

whats the earliest you have taken your child to the dentist. not due to problems but to start checkups with their teeth

Posted: Wed, Dec 30 2009, 3:15 pm Post subject:

18 mos - 2 yrs old. Just for them to do a look-see, a bit of a cleaning, and to get them used to it. My dentist tries to make it a positive experience for them - stickers, prizes, the works.
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Posted: Wed, Dec 30 2009, 3:15 pm Post subject:

When they turn three.
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Silver Member Joined: Mar 16 2009 Age: 34 Posts: 935

technically visits should be started at 1yr or within 6 months of first tooth.

Gold Member Joined: Sep 22 2009 Posts: 1451

3 Years old.

Silver Member Joined: Mar 16 2009 Age: 34 Posts: 935

by then a child could have an entire mouth of cavities! make sure they don't get juice in a bottle and brush their teeth twice a day

Senior Member Joined: Oct 19 2004 Posts: 232

When they start getting teeth.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48145

do you have a pedaitric dentist in mind? ask them what they recomend

Silver Member Joined: Sep 23 2007 Posts: 504

I don't have one in mind I was just wondering when to take her I mean she doesnt have all her teeth yet she is 15 months old

Gold Member Joined: Jan 29 2006 Posts: 1142

3 years

Senior Member Joined: Oct 28 2009 Posts: 109

I strart at a young age. Experience tells me to do that. My oldest went to the dentist at 2 1/2 yrs old and had visible cavities. Anyways he had to have his teeth fixed by the hospital a 3 hour precedure and 16 out of 20 teeth got caps. Believe me better check early.

Silver Member Joined: Nov 06 2008 Posts: 654

Our dentist recommended 3 - unless there are obvious problems (pain, gum-swelling, etc.)

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 01 2005 Posts: 16884

I took my first son at 3 and got a round scolding for not taking him earlier. So I took my 2nd kid at 16 months, he had about 10 teeth in. (acutally he lost a tooth by an accident at 10 mnths so I went at 10 months but this was a real checkup)

I took my ds when he just turned three. He was complaining his mouth hurt him. I took him to my regular dentist who is fabulous with kids- my ds got a real cleaning with a fluoride treatment (they can start giving that at three). Ds had zero cavities. AND he was a juice drinker (though he never ever at candy not even lolli). I spoke to my dentist about this many times before- some children and adults are more inclined to get cavities. and some are not.

Silver Member Joined: Jul 07 2009 Posts: 932

I just asked my dentist this same question:

They dont take patients younger than 5, otherwise see a pediatric dentist if you think there are problems...

Im opting to take them at 5, I dont think this is a problem as long as my kids are brushing and not complaining of tooth pain.

I dont disagree with the other ladies about taking them at 3 etc, this is just my decision for now.
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Platinum Member Joined: Sep 10 2006 Posts: 6561

My pediatricians have said 3. I've been remiss with ds, so he just went at 4.5, and dd went at the same time at 2.5 yrs.

They did a cleaning/fluoride for ds, and just brushed/flossed and looked at dd's teeth (but didn't get the excavating equipment out for the 1st visit bc they didn't want to freak her out and she was doing really well.)

They didn't find anything of concern, but some build up in usual spots, and gave us some more tips for brushing.

We've been brushing their teeth 2x/day from around 12-18 mos...we also floss 1x/day with interdental flossers. (How fast this ramps up to a good clean was different as dd would just clamp down and suck on teh toothbrush instead of letting us brush for quite a while, but eventually she figured out what to do.)

We also never gave juice bottles or anything but water if they needed by bedtime, and generally my kids don't drink juice or eat candy except by shabbos or yom tov, and then within reason.
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