Your little one’s smile might light up your world, even before he or she has any teeth. If you want to keep your son or daughter smiling brightly for years to come, you want to make sure he or she receives routine dental care. Pediatric Dental Specialists in Kansas City and Connec the Doc, a dental marketing company, would like to take a moment to guide you through when you should start taking your child to the dentist as well as educate you about the importance of early dental appointments.
When Your Child’s First Teeth Emerges
Ideally, you want to take your kid to Pediatric Dental Specialists Kansas City for the first time within six months of when his or her first tooth emerges. Generally, a child’s first two erupts when he or she is around six months old. Therefore, you want to bring your child to the dentist for the first time before he or she turns one.
Ask Your Child’s Pediatrician
Keep in mind that a survey published by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) showed that 62 percent of parents who didn’t feel a dental appointment was necessary before or at the age of one cited that the reason was that the child was too young or didn’t have enough teeth. Therefore, if you feel like a visit to the dentist before your child is too soon, you may want to discuss your child’s pediatrician’s recommendations.
Different pediatricians will recommend different times when they feel like the first visit to the dentist is appropriate and necessary for a child. Your little one’s pediatrician will discuss with you the benefits of taking your child to the dentist at a certain age based on what he or she believes and the research he or she analyzed. At a standard pediatrician appointment, your kid’s pediatrician will evaluate your child’s teeth. He or she will assess your child’s teeth for any problems that warrant your child to go to the dentist as soon as possible.
Around or Before the Age of Two
According to the aforementioned study, the average age that parents took their children to the dentist was 2.6 years. At this age, your child will usually have all or most of his or her primary teeth. In fact, your child will have 20 teeth, 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom, and typically, al of these teeth emerge between the ages of 2.5 and three years of age.
Why Early Dental Appointments Are Necessary
You may wonder why you need to take your child to Pediatric Dental Specialists Kansas City so early. First and foremost, you want the dentist to check for any issues with his or her teeth that could indicate his or her primary aren’t going to come in normally. These issues could result in problems with how your child speaks or eats.
Additionally, you want to lay a solid foundation for good oral health. Problems with your child’s primary teeth could result in issues with his or her secondary set. When you take your son or daughter to the dentist early, the dentist can educate you on how to take care of your child’s teeth. For instance, you’ll learn about what foods you should limit your child from having. This ensures you have all the tools necessary to take care of your child’s teeth for years to come. Ultimately, you can use all this knowledge to prevent problems from occurring that can cause serious issues. In particular, you’ll prevent your child from having to see a periodontist in Kansas City, which is a dentist that specializes in all aspects of periodontal disease, also known as gum disease. An early routine dental exam from Pediatric Dental Specialists Kansas City is also an excellent time for you to ask any questions you may have.
Besides preventing the need for a visit to the periodontist in Kansas City, early dental exams for children also prevent your child from any pain or discomfort associated with dental problems since you’ll have knowledge about how to take care of your child’s teeth properly. When you know how to take care of your child’s teeth properly, you can even prevent problems with the secondary teeth.
Additionally, when you take your child to Pediatric Dental Specialists Kansas City at an early age, you get your child used to seeing the dentist. This is vital since a dental visit can be a traumatic experience for a child. When you start with early appointments, your child will have more time to adjust to these appointments.
One benefit of early dental care for parents is that early appointments prevent serious dental problems that can cost a parent much more than the routine dental appointments.
Getting Your Child Ready for His or Her First Appointment
Infants and toddlers may not take well to a stranger looking inside their mouths and touching their teeth. Therefore, you may want to start to prepare your child before he or she goes to the dentist. For example, you may want to sit with your child before the visit and pretend you’re a dentist and demonstrate what the dentist will do to your child’s teeth. You might also want to let your child pretend to examine your teeth.
Before the appointment, make sure your child has a clean diaper or pull up and is already fed before you arrive at the office. Let him or her bring in his or her favorite toy or blanket. Once you arrive at the office, you may want to ask the dentist if you can sit in the chair with your child with his or her on your lap.
By scheduling a dental appointment early, you can prevent your child from serious dental problems in the future. You may avoid the need to take your child to a specialist, such as a periodontist in Kansas City. Plus, you can save yourself money when you prevent complications associated with poor dental care.
