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What age do kids need to see a dentist/eye doc?

belizeitornotbelizeitornot
in D.C. Area Babies

Since it's open season, we'd need to add H to our dental/vision plans if she would need to go before she turns 2... but I have no idea what is standard. (And open season is over by the time of her 1 yr appt to ask the pedi)

Do kids usually see a dentist before age 2? What about eye exams?

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Re: What age do kids need to see a dentist/eye doc?

  • kafunderkafunder member

    At the pedi this past week for the LOs' 15-month appt, our pedi said the AAP (or maybe ADA) is moving toward recommending kids start seeing the dentist at 12-months, just to start getting your LO familiar with the dentist. So, we're going to make our first appt for sometime early next year. However, I added my LOs to our dental right from the start in case we had an accident or something that required dental care (and it was only like $5 extra more per month).

    I have no idea about vision. 

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  • cmh06cmh06
    We started taking DD to the dentist at 15 months. She goes every 6 months.  We go to a pediatric dentist.
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  • hollacehollace
    I think the best rule of thumb is to ask your existing providers. My dentist said 3 simply because they can sit in the chair by then by themselves without as many disturbances.  They also said a pedi dentist would tell you to start as soon as they have teeth.  As for eyes, vision isn't really complete for a few years.  Again, you would have to do picture testing, etc. so I would say 3 but if you have a provider I would go ahead and call and ask what they recommend.  Of course if you have an accident with the teeth/eyes you would go sooner and likewise if your child seemed to be having problems seeing.  I did have a coworker whose child all of a sudden had glasses (maybe 2 yo). They said that she just didnt seem to be acting the same as others so they got her eyes checked and he then stated they must help her because she doesnt take them (the glasses) off.  
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  • SofkaSofka

    my dentist says not before 3, sometimes 4. We took DD at 3 and she didn't want to open her mouth, dentist didn't push it, said it's much more impt that kids don't develop a fear and hatred of the dentist than making her open her mouth. We'll try again at 3.5, then 4.

     

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  • the_jackpotthe_jackpot member
    Everything I have read about dental care says a little after 1. We took ds at around 15 months and he did well.
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  • ArtslvrArtslvr
    We took the girls at the same time when they were two and four.  They told us to come back in six months.  They both did well.
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  • vtkgirl77vtkgirl77

    We took DD to a pediatric dentist for the first time at 18 months because I had some questions for the dentist related to her thumb-sucking. Now she's going every 6 months and she does very well with it.

    I've heard from most people that you don't need to take them to the dentist until around 3 yo. However, I added both of my kids to all of my insurance policies when they were infants just because I wanted to have the insurance in case of emergency. For instance, if they knocked out a tooth or something like that. The increase in price for the insurance was negligible so I thought it was best to just put them on the plan.

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  • AgrippaRidesAgainAgrippaRidesAgain member
    Our pediatric dentist says as soon as they start getting teeth. However, we just had DS's first real visit there (we had an introductory visit 6 months earlier) and for him, I just don't see it going well any earlier than we took him. They were able to explain things, he could ask questions and tell them what he was scared of, and understand what was going on. Since he is so wary of strangers touching him, and particularly sensitive with people (even us) touching his face, until we hit this age any attempt at a visit would have been a disaster. I think we will definitely wait until 3-3.5 for DD too.
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  • Jitterbug2668Jitterbug2668 member
    Our dentist recommended age was 3.  I'm not sure which health care plan but some of the basic dental procedures (like cleaning & xrays) are covered under general health and well being so we wouldn't have to necessarily add DS to our supplemental dental immediately.
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