At What Age Should My Child Begin To See The Pediatric Dentist Fort Collins?

Hi, i am Greg Evans. I'm a practicing pediatric dentist inside Fort Collins, Colorado.

The question you ask is a good one and one that we answer often. Surprisingly, many dental experts and most of the medical profession do not know the answer to this question, and there is a lot of false details out there. Listed here are the facts.

The best time to take your child to the dentist is right around their first birthday, and definitely within six months of that first tooth entering the mouth or erupting. Wow, is that early? Well, earlier is the complete point; early on equals prevention. Think back to taking your child to the family doctor. Most children in America visit their particular pediatrician or even family doctor 7 times by the age of 2.

They do that for two reasons. To start with, the doctor will probably check your child with regard to developmental key events; hopefully they're hitting those properly. The second thing they are going to do is they're going to anticipate and guide you along about what you should do as a mother or father. That's referred to as anticipatory guidance. The old joke is "children don't come home from the hospital with operation manuals." We're gaining knowledge from our specialists how to take care of our children as they go. It's no different for oral well being.

If you think about this, we do not know as parents, specifically as fresh parents, what to do with our children's mouth. When should we brush; just how should we deal with harmful habits; when ought to we start using fluoride; how should we combine formula? There's a myriad of concerns. The sad fact is always that our healthcare colleagues don't have any idea. Medical college students get four hours of lecture about the teeth and the oral cavity, and they obtain virtually no lecture on baby dental care. A tuned pediatric dentist is what you need to assist you through these early years.

The early years are important. About 25 percent of the, at least in Colorado, have cavities by the ages of three or four. During my practice I observe way too many kids that begin their dental experience in my office with a tooth ache. That is what you are trying to avoid. You want to start early and begin to build up habits so we don't have to deal with that later. Tooth decay are a bacterial infection in the mouth area. As such, the particular bacteria comes into our mouth as we age. It's about the time where kids first start getting their first child teeth in that the bacteria can come directly into the mouth and stay in the oral cavity.

Where do they obtain the bacteria? They get it mainly from their parents as well as their brothers and sisters and then sometimes to a lower extent, when they get older, from their childcare. We have to prepare ourselves to cope with the bacteria that comes into our mouth area. Ninety-nine percent of the bacteria in our mouth area is cavity resistant. But it is the one percent that can really go to town, produce acid and also break down teeth at a extremely early age. That's what we're attempting to prevent by performing brushing habits, by understanding when to begin fluoride, and knowing how your child will probably react to their own brushing.

Ask around; find a competent dentist in your area that will see infants. In my office, we set aside about a 20-minute appointment for an assistant to sit down with you and your child and give you information in a booklet form. After that I'll come over and look at your kid, do a little anatomy tour, an exam to make sure that everything seems as it ought to. Then all of us talk about your health history and brushing habits.

That basic procedure, which is always complimentary in my office, sets children up for success. Then when they come back regarding official cleanings at about the age of three, when they have vocabulary control as well as all the baby teeth in, they are set up for success and we begin a life-time of pleasant dental trips. And, the kids don't mind coming to the dentist.

For more details on this or to learn answers of other questions you may have, go to my own website or perhaps email me. I love what I do and I want to assist you to raise healthy, happy youngsters. Thanks for tuning in.