Dental Articles - Waterdown

Your Child's First Dental Visit

Current guidance is to bring a child for a first dental visit by their first birthday, or within six months of the first tooth appearing, whichever comes first. That surprises most parents, who reasonably assume there is little to examine.

The reason is not that a one year old needs treatment. It is that decay in baby teeth can begin as soon as teeth are present, and that the habits which cause it are formed in exactly this period. Early visits are about prevention and familiarity, not intervention.

What actually happens

A first appointment is short and mostly conversation. For a very young child it often takes place with them sitting on your lap rather than in the chair. We look at the teeth and gums, check that development is on track, and talk through brushing, feeding and fluoride.

There is usually no treatment, frequently no radiographs, and the aim is that the child leaves having found the whole thing unremarkable. A child whose first several visits involved nothing more than counting teeth is a child who will sit calmly for a filling at eight, if one is ever needed.

How to prepare them, and what not to say

Keep it brief and matter of fact. A short mention on the day is better than a week of build up.

The most useful thing you can do is avoid reassurance that introduces the idea of fear. Telling a child it will not hurt plants the possibility that it might. Words like pain, needle, drill and hurt are worth leaving out entirely, including when said as jokes by older siblings. If your own dental anxiety is significant, it is often worth another adult bringing them, because children read adult tension accurately.

Never present a visit as a punishment or as the consequence of not brushing.

The things that actually cause decay

Frequency matters more than quantity. Every time sugar is consumed the mouth becomes acidic for a period afterwards. A whole chocolate bar eaten at once does less damage than the same amount grazed across an afternoon, because the mouth gets a chance to recover between exposures.

Bottles and sippy cups at night. Anything other than water pooling around the teeth during sleep, when saliva flow drops, is the classic cause of early childhood decay. Milk included.

Juice. Even unsweetened juice is both sugary and acidic. Water and milk are the everyday drinks.

Hidden sugars. Many products marketed for children, including fruit snacks and flavoured yoghurts, are sticky and high in sugar. Stickiness matters because it extends contact time.

Brushing

Start as soon as the first tooth appears, twice daily with fluoride toothpaste in an amount appropriate to their age. Children need an adult to brush for them or after them until roughly age seven or eight, because the manual dexterity for effective brushing develops later than most people assume. Encourage spitting rather than rinsing afterwards so the fluoride stays on the teeth.

Once teeth are touching, cleaning between them matters, since that is where decay starts and a brush cannot reach.

Baby teeth matter

They are frequently dismissed on the grounds that they fall out anyway. They hold the space for the adult teeth that follow, and a baby molar lost early lets the teeth behind drift forward, which causes crowding that later needs orthodontic treatment to resolve. Decay in baby teeth also hurts, causes infections, and interferes with eating and sleeping.

Fluoride applications and regular cleanings form the routine from there. Children are also covered under the Canadian Dental Care Plan where the family qualifies.

Panacea Dental is at 105 Clappison Ave #103 in Waterdown, open Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. We are accepting new patients. Call 289-408-5100 or book online.

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