Q. How old should my child be before I make his first dental appointment?
A. You should take him in by the time he celebrates his first birthday.
First visits are mostly about getting kids used to the dentist’s chair and educating parents about how to care for baby’s teeth. If your child has transitioned from the bottle to cup and doesn’t snack or drink in the middle of the night, you get a one-year pass, until age 2. That’s when the standard every-six-month dental visit recommendation kicks into gear. When your child is between ages 4 and 6, expect your dentist to take a first set of X-rays to check for cavities lurking between the teeth.
Prevention is the name of the game between ages 6 and 12, when baby teeth give way to permanent teeth. Your child’s dentist will probably suggest a sealant, a plastic resin that bonds to teeth’s chewing surfaces, between ages 7 and 9. Cavity-prone molars are the most likely site for treatment. The resin keeps cavity-causing bacteria from getting into the grooves and valleys of teeth.
Also, when your child is around age 7, his dentist will likely suggest an orthodontic evaluation. Most kids will wait until their early teens for braces, but orthodontics is about modifying jaw growth, so identifying skeletal causes of crooked teeth early helps ensure a beautiful smile later on.
In the end, it’s the basics — brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and getting regular dental checkups — that have the most impact on a kid’s smile.
Find more articles, browse back issues, and read the current issue of
WebMD the Magazine.
