Toddler > Get Answers > When should I take my son to the dentist for the first time? - Anonymous

When should I take my son to the dentist for the first time? - Anonymous

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A child should initially see a dentist when they are around 2- 2 1/2 years old. It should be sooner if there is any trauma to the facial area or if the parent notices any color changes in the teeth or any holes or black spots.

The maintenance of the health of the primary (baby) teeth is vital to the healthy development of the permanent ones. Decay in baby teeth can result in a loss of space needed for the adult ones to erupt into. Infections arising from deep decay can turn into fever causing abscesses. The position of healthy baby teeth in the jaw bone also contributes to the normal development of the bone structures.

Baby teeth NEED TO BE BRUSHED or swabbed to remove food and plaque which causes decay. Sometimes it’s hard to use a toothbrush, so I usually recommend letting the child chew on the brush… with supervision! NEVER let a small child run around with a toothbrush in their mouth. That’s an accident waiting to happen!!!!

Overall, I am not concerned with delayed eruption of teeth until the baby is closer to age 2. Then, the dental expert must observe proper development of the jaw structures, and if it appears that there may not be “baby” teeth in the jawbone, an x-ray may be necessary to confirm this. However, this condition is extremely rare.
-Dr. Auster




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There Are 3 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Zaherera on Jan 23 2009 05:17:20:

    Hi, I just took my 3 yr old son to have his front 2 teeth extracted because they needed a root canal and two back molars have cavities. The dentist I went to was AN ANGEL!! She took literally 20 minutes and it was done! I was agonizing the visit for months. But thank God it was ok and now he looks even cuter without his front 2 teeth…..they grow back by his 5th or 6th yr…..all this because he drank milk at night!!

  2. Comment by Natasha on Mar 16 2009 05:15:45:

    Hi, I took my son to the dentist when he turned 1 and again six months later. My dentist stressed the importance of children coming to the dentist sooner than later. By age 1 the Dentist is able to inform you of any problems and ways to prevent problems later on. His second time they actually gave him a cleaning and told me to get a spin brush! Who knew.

  3. Comment by Dawn on Oct 23 2009 01:46:03:

    I tried to get our 2 1/2 year old daughter in to see the dentist but they said unless there was a problem going on with her teeth ( which there was not) 4 or 5 was the age kids start going to the dentist. And our insurance would not cover it either. I was disappointed!!

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