Yesterday I spent the morning at the park with my youngest kids, another mom and her child. As I was trying to navigate pushing two swings on opposite sides of the swing set and avoid getting hit by all of the swings in the middle, my mom friend asked me a good question. “Do you think he is too young to see a dentist?”
Her child was three-years old and hadn’t yet been to the dentist. There was an issue with his teeth that she was concerned about, but she wasn’t sure if he was too young to be seen by a dentist.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends a first visit by the age of one. Seeing a child this early can catch any issues such as baby bottle tooth decay, gum disease and issues resulting from thumb sucking, finger sucking or pacifier use.
Our own family dentist doesn’t recommend a visit before three-years of age unless there is a problem or concern. This is because most young children under the age of three won’t comply with the visit, and forcing a child to open his mouth can cause a prolonged fear of the dentist. We made sure that our pediatrician performed a mouth and tooth check at each well baby visit, so we followed out dentist’s advice.
If a child is not compliant, most dental offices will ask you to reschedule your visit to another time. A little preparation before the visit may lessen the chance that you will have to reschedule. Plan to have an appointment during the time of day that your child is at his or her best. For my kids, this is usually in the morning and not too close to lunch or nap time.
Many dental offices ask parents to wait in the reception area instead of in the room. Personally, this would be my cue to find a new dentist. Our practice has never once asked us to step outside, and in fact encourages us to hold our young children on our laps to make the exam easier.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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