- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
D.C. Area Babies
On our way to 3 under 4!
DD1 1/22/09
DD2 7/16/10
Baby Boy Due This Summer!
How old was your LO at 1st dental visit?
I read that you should take them around one year, but I just want to see what people in real life do. DH has an appt next week and he's planning on asking the dentist what he thinks. Also, did you take them to a children's dentist, or a family practice?
On our way to 3 under 4!
DD1 1/22/09
DD2 7/16/10
Baby Boy Due This Summer!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: How old was your LO at 1st dental visit?
DS goes to a family dentist. he recommends that children start seeing a dentist at 2 years old. they don't have many teeth at one, not sure what they would do?
Most of our friends with toddlers started seeing a dentist between 2.5 and 3.
ETA: i totally meant to type 3 above, not 2. DS had his first visit at 2y10m
my dentist said the same!
interestingly, pediatricians often advise going earlier but I'm going with my dentist's recommendation
i'll definitely be taking her to a children's dentist, not the family practice. they've got all the toys, gadgets and gizmos to make it tolerable.
i spoke to the dentist i am planning on taking her to (dr. reardon in arlington) and she said some time around 2 1/2 is best. i have bad teeth so that's even a little on the early side.
in the meantime, we are practicing brushing our teeth every night.
I have also read they should go around 1yr, but our dentist said she starts when kids are 2yrs.
Our insurance says that they should go by their first birthday, so since we're paying for DD to be on our dental plan, we took her around 18 months for the heck of it. Now that we moved and looked for a new dentist, every place I've called has acted like I'm nuts for wanting her to be seen before she turned 3. So we're just waiting for a few more months.
I will definitely take our kids to a children's dentist. It's geared towards making them as comfortable and secure as possible with the staff that's specially trained - not to mention all the kid-friendly stuff - the place I went as a kid had an indoor jungle gym! I don't want them to grow up with a phobia of dentists (DH absolutely hates going) and will do what I can to make it a "pleasant" experience. But also, I know that crying is inevitable at this age, so I don't want to go somewhere that my child will disturb other, adult patients.
I would love to have taken him at a year because he got his teeth so early but even pediatric dentists that came highly recommended in the area said they don't see a child before the age of 2-3 depending on the child's anxiety.
In the UK and Canada we start early and I had planned to do this but I ended up just taking in ds at a year and he sat on my lap and watched my cleaning but didn't get an assessment himself.