First Dental Examination

A child’s first visit to the dentist should be enjoyable.

Children are not born with a natural fear of the dentist, but they can fear the unknown. Our office makes a special effort to use pleasant, non-frightening, simple words to describe each treatment. We want you and your child to feel at ease from the moment your family arrives at our office. The more you and your child know about the first visit, the better you will feel.

The Canadian Dental Association recommends…

Children should visit the dentist within 6 months of getting their first tooth, or before their first birthday. It is important that your child’s newly-erupted teeth (erupting at six to 12 months of age) receive proper dental care and benefit from proper oral hygiene habits right from the beginning.  Call our office to set up an appointment for a baby dental screening.  Our baby dental screenings are complimentary; we want to make sure you have all the information you need to best care for their teeth, and that you get an opportunity to have any questions answered.

After that visit, we usually have our child patients return at around age 2, with the goal of doing a full examination and cleaning.  However, sometimes at that age some toddlers may not want to cooperate much, so we focus on getting them more acquainted with our office and the tools that we use (eg. the tooth mirror, the air water tip, the suction  tips) by using language that is age appropriate.  They leave us with an oral health pack and a toy!