Topic # 2 - At what age can I take my child to the dentist

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Today I come to talk to you about the little ones in the house, something that I am frequently asked in my daily practice, of course because my career is something that I love, it's something I love to talk about.

At what age is it advisable to bring the child to his first consultation?

Wrong parents believe that their children should not go to the dentist while they have their milk teeth, which I still can not understand and I always tell them to please explain where they got that bad idea; The answer I have obtained from several parents has been the following "All those teeth are going to change doctor". The truth is sometimes a serious error on the part of the dentist does not explain the consequences that may have not take your child on time to your first consultation, because it leads to a number of problems, not only bite alterations or habits that must be interrupted in time; but also because we will have a problematic patient when he is an adult.

For nobody is a secret that this profession is one of the most feared, most patients come to consultation only when they can not stand the pain and the pills (self-medicated) have no effect, I dare say there are very few patients who come every 6 months to have their routine check and preventive treatment of prophylaxis.

Most parents do not know that their children will have their permanent or definitive first molars (molars) at 6 years of age and this tooth is usually not given adequate attention. Imagine your first tooth comes out at 6 years old, without the correct care easily at 18 you could lose it; during my rural clinics I saw many cases of 12-year-old children who had to undergo root canal treatment and that the parents, for not having the resources, chose to take it out.

Many years ago it was recommended to take the child to his first revision once he had all his baby teeth (they are 20 teeth), that happens around 3 years of age. However, there has been an appearance of caries in infants under 3 years of age, so the recommendation is to take the child when he reaches his first year of age (this as a preventive measure). If in the first revision, everything is in order, you must go to its revision once every year.

What benefits does your child have when visiting the dentist when they are one year old?

Trust and Security

Nursing bottle caries

• The first bond of trust and security is created between your child and the dentist. It is necessary that the child and the dentist have a good relationship and do not create fears from the beginning.

• I think one of the most important: to introduce good cleaning habits early, prevention is the fundamental basis, it is necessary to raise awareness both father and son.

• Your dentist can instruct the father about rampant caries (Nursing bottle caries).

• The presence of parafunctional habits can be detected.

• By doing the clinical study you can perceive possible problems or alterations of the bite (crossbite, open or alterations of growth)

Some tips I can give to parents who prefer to expect their children to be between 4-10 years of age are the following:

• Choose a specialist dentist that be prepared to care for children. (Dentistry is like medicine, there is specialization in this case it would be called a "Pediatric Dentist").
• Try to match with the dentist the exact time of the consultation, the wait generates much anxiety and more to children when they are small.
• Talk to your child two or three days beforehand and explain that you will see the dentist for annual review.
• I recommend parents to be present at the first and perhaps second visit to the dentist (while collecting general data of the child), in later appointments parents should not go to the area of the dental chair, why? So that the dentist can establish a more direct relationship with the child without the mediation of the parents.
• It is very normal for the child to cry in his first consultation, if you already have confidence with the professional you should let him handle the situation since entering could hinder the treatment.
• If the child behaved well during his appointment, it is very important to reinforce this behavior and reward him so that in successive visits he knows that if he behaves well he will receive something in return; If the opposite happens, do not scold him, since he will compare the scolding with going to the dentist.

And here I give the two things that you should NEVER do as a father, believe me there is no worse evil for your children than doing this:

Never deceive the child by telling him that they will take him to lunch or to the park, because when they meet reality and enter the office they will know that they have been deceived and that nothing good can come of it.

PLEASE and on behalf of all dentists:

Do not threaten your children by telling them to take you to the dentist if they misbehave or have poor grades, dentists are not monsters, avoid comparing the dentist to the punishment.

I know this sounds like crazy, but I've seen many parents do this enormous harm to their children, and after receiving so many threats, they get angry because the child does not have proper behavior in dentistry, sometimes you have to educate first to the parents and then the children.