Toddlers and Dentists

[Princesca]

I keep reading online that you should take your toddler to the dentist for an exam around 12 months. We did take our son when teeth started coming in, and she looked at his mouth as best she could (Just a glance, really, as he was not having it), but said that she didn't really need to see him until he was about 2. (I think.) We brush his teeth most nights, but it's always a struggle. He's getting better about it. We don't give him sweets, as a rule, and never gummies. His breath doesn't smell odd to me, teeth coming in fine with lots of space, no weird bite issues... in other words, no problems that I'm aware of.

When did you guys who have, or have had, toddlers take them to the dentist? Was it before 2? At 2? What level of exam did they get and when?

 

[kymom99]

I think at 3. That’s when the pediatrician suggested we take him. Otherwise it’s like you said, basically “counting teeth”.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

At 12 months. Go to a pediatric dentist.

 

[DisneyHardin]

At 12 months. Go to a pediatric dentist.

What do they do at 12 months. 12 months is still a baby - I can't imagine them doing a cleaning on a baby.

 

[mjkacmom]

What do they do at 12 months. 12 months is still a baby - I can't imagine them doing a cleaning on a baby.

Lol my kids had no teeth at 12 months. We started at 3 with a regular dentist.

 

[amylevan]

3 for both of mine.

And for what it’s worth, 3 was still too young for one of mine. We tried at 3 and 3.5, but she was 4 before she would let the dentist get a decent look. (My drama queen…it started young ). Her teeth are fine.

 

[Kitty 34]

Lol my kids had no teeth at 12 months. We started at 3 with a regular dentist.

LOL! My sister's granddaughter will be turning 1 sometime this month and still has not a single tooth!

I'm pretty sure mine went at 3 and 4 for the 1st time.

 

[tvguy]

I just remember my wife asking our Dentist about making an appointment for him to see our 2 year old and he said he felt 5 was a good age. My wife pointed out that the pamphlets in his waiting area from the American Dental Association said 2 years. Dentist promptly went into the waiting area, grabbed all those pamphlets and threw them out! But he did agree to try and look at our son's teeth with our son sitting my my wife's lap. No problems. And our daughter started at 2 as well. But, our Dentist was our neighbor*, and our kids just thought it was cool going to see our neighbor at work. They never had issues with the Dentist because of that.

*My wife and I decided our son would not be allowed to have candy until age 2. Our Dentist was horrified to discover the first piece of candy our son had was given to him by THE DENTIST'S WIFE!. Our son was playing with a friend next door to the Dentist's house, and his wife came out and asked me, and the other child's father if it was okay to give them a piece of candy. We both said yes, but I pointed out my son had never had candy. The neighbor kid ate it right away, my son just ran around with the wrapped lollipop in his hand. He had no idea it was FOOD. My Denitst's wife was equally horrified that she was the one to introduce our son to candy!

 

[aprilgail]

Pediatric dentist at 2 years old.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We went at age 3. We did not have great experiences with (two different) pediatric dental practices, and wound up going to a family dentist which was much better. I found the pediatric staff unnecessarily rigid and condescending. (I had worked in a pediatric hospital myself for several years so that was a little surprising.)

 

[LuvOrlando]

Reminded me of a strange conversation I had with the Pediatric Dentist when my kids were toddlers, staff asked me flat out why I was there. Turns out in many parts of the country the dentists & staff don't read the same books moms do.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

What do they do at 12 months. 12 months is still a baby - I can't imagine them doing a cleaning on a baby.

To tell you the truth, it was long enough ago that I don't really remember everything they did! I know there were no xrays that young. Counted teeth, checked gums and bite, did a quick cleaning with just a baby toothbrush, gave instructions about when to start using toothpaste, took family history of needing orthodontics or any dental disease, etc. I think it is partly about getting a child used to the dentist and also establishing a relationship in case urgent dental care is needed - if you aren't an established patient somewhere it's hard to get seen quickly - and toddlers can definitely fall and chip / crack / knock out teeth - and even though it's their baby teeth, depending on what has happened, trauma to the mouth can sometimes affect permanent teeth. Our pediatrician recommended that we go at 12 months - which is the recommendation of the AAP, ADA, and AAPD, so we went with that. Not on that first visit, but sometime early on - before the age of 3, we found out that one of mine had an issue that would need oral surgery to correct, so we were definitely glad to have that information sooner rather than later.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I'm in a different situation, my husband is a dentist, so the kids have seen him from day 1. The biggest concerns he would have that would have him encourage an early visit would be (a) tongue tie (b) kid being nursed to sleep or going to bed with a bottle after most of the teeth are in and (c) kid doing damage to any teeth via a fall or blow to the mouth, especially the front teeth.

He is a family dentist, so sees kids as well as adults. He encourages mom and dad or other caregiver to get back to back cleaning appointments or come in together but with only one adult having an appointment when the kiddo is 2ish years old. He has one adult get the teeth cleaned, lets the kid watch a couple of minutes of the process, has the kid sit in the chair once the first adult is done for a quick check (he often uses a flashlight instead of the big overhead light as it's less intimidating) then the adults swap if there is a second appointment or the family leaves. It's worked well for his office for 23 years.

 

[SG131]

Just took one at 1.5 yrs old. Our pediatrician recommends starting at 12-18 months. I held him and they brushed his teeth and put a little fluoride on. He actually has had everything but his 2 year molars since around 16 months old.

 

[mumto3girls]

Mine started with a pediatric dentist at 3. Not a single one of them had a tooth on their 1st birthdays.

 

[Sleepy425]

As a dental hygienist in a pediatric practice...you'd be surprised how many people have NO CLUE about dental health. It is recommended to bring your child so early so that we can start teaching the parents. Toddlers come in with juice in bottles, eating gummy bears...you name it we have seen it. Today I had a newly 3 year old whose smile looked fine - but when I looked behind the front center teeth there was decay. Parents have been putting him to bed with a bottle, because they had no clue. If they had started bringing him when he was younger we would have already had all the discussions with them about that. So yes, it may seem like we aren't doing much to the child. But we are making sure everything looks normal and chatting the parents up about good habits starting early.
Also, bringing them early gets them used to us, and lets us get to know them. That's helpful in the event of a dental emergency. If you're already paying to have them on your insurance, take advantage of the free preventative visits. Otherwise if there is an emergency, don't get mad that the office doesn't scramble to see your child who isn't an established patient.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

As a dental hygienist in a pediatric practice...you'd be surprised how many people have NO CLUE about dental health. It is recommended to bring your child so early so that we can start teaching the parents. Toddlers come in with juice in bottles, eating gummy bears...you name it we have seen it. Today I had a newly 3 year old whose smile looked fine - but when I looked behind the front center teeth there was decay. Parents have been putting him to bed with a bottle, because they had no clue. If they had started bringing him when he was younger we would have already had all the discussions with them about that. So yes, it may seem like we aren't doing much to the child. But we are making sure everything looks normal and chatting the parents up about good habits starting early.
Also, bringing them early gets them used to us, and lets us get to know them. That's helpful in the event of a dental emergency. If you're already paying to have them on your insurance, take advantage of the free preventative visits. Otherwise if there is an emergency, don't get mad that the office doesn't scramble to see your child who isn't an established patient.

This attitude just rubs me the wrong way. (I liked your post prior to that last sentence.)

 

[Southernmiss]

TBH I wish we would have skipped the pediatric dentist and gone straight to the family dentist dh and I used.

I swear the pediatric dentist just found stuff to fix or nitpick. I have often wondered if it was because we had state paid for children's dental care and the pediatric dentists were milking the system for $.

Once we started with the family dentist, our kids had no more come back for xyz appointments.

They're in their 20s, went through braces as teens and to this day, very few cavities in their permanent teeth between 4 of them. And continue with regular check ups.

 

[Sleepy425]

This attitude just rubs me the wrong way. (I liked your post prior to that last sentence.)

I get it, but when we are packed (and we usually are) and parents are demanding we see their child RIGHT NOW, we have to put our current patients first. We give them the info for the local ER that has a pediatric dentist on staff.

 

[anniemae]

If I remember right, out pediatrician said by age 3. When I called the pediatric dentist they told me the same thing, they usually see them by age 3.