First Child Visit

Your child should start having regular dental check-ups when they are around 3 years old, but bringing them along for one of your cleaning appointments is often helpful. After the first visit, they should return to our office about every 6 months. An important part of the first visit is establishing a relationship between your child and our staff so that your child is comfortable every time they come in for an appointment, which is why we usually ask the parents to wait in the waiting room. We don’t want any of our little patients to be scared to go to the dentist, so forming a healthy and positive relationship as early as possible will help maintain their oral health.

 

During the visit, Dr. Appel, Dr. Caton, or Dr. McGlumphy will examine all of your child’s teeth to make sure they are growing and developing properly, and to ensure there are no signs of decay. They will also look closely at your child’s bite and jaw to make sure there are no potential issues as your child grows. Depending on the examination, we may treat your child’s teeth with fluoride, or take X-rays. Both procedures are perfectly safe! Our experienced and professional hygienists will clean your child’s teeth thoroughly and more deeply than is possible with typical day-to-day hygiene. They will also teach your child proper brushing techniques.

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We also like to use this first visit to help educate parents on how to care for their child’s teeth while their teeth are growing in. Oral hygiene for children is slightly different than oral hygiene for adults because their first set of teeth are still coming in, and they’ll be losing teeth until their adult teeth come in. We’ll also discuss different milestones in your children’s oral health, and habits to look out for like thumb sucking, lip sucking, finger biting, among others. We can also advise you on proper nutrition for your child’s developing smile.