As your child grows and develops, it’s important to ensure they’re healthy in every aspect – this includes their oral health.
Scheduling your child’s first dentist appointment often causes a lot of anxiety for parents. What is the right age for your child to go to the dentist? What happens at those appointments? And what are signs and concerns that a dentist can help address at such an early age?
There are a lot of questions, and luckily, we have the answers. Rather than address the first age your child should go to the dentist, we’re going to address the three critical ages for you to make a dental appointment for your child.
The Age Your Child Should First Visit the Dentist
Pediatric dentistry experts recommend children visit the dentist for the first time no later than the age of one. This allows children to get a head start on their dental health and care. During this visit, parents have the opportunity to address several areas of oral health, such as:
- Assessment of the first teeth
- Teething
- Development of jawline and gums
- Diet and oral health
- Managing habits like thumb sucking
- How to properly care for your child’s unique teeth
If your child’s teeth are healthy and there are no foreseeable problems, schedule your next visit with Bisson Dentistry. At what age will your child go back to the dentist after the young age of one?
The Second Visit to the Dentist for Your Child
Once your child attends their first dental visit around the age of one, there’s typically a three-year gap before the second visit. At age of four, your child should revisit the dentist as this is a critical age to ensure they have corrected bad habits such as thumb or finger sucking.
Since this is an impressionable age, dentists will help explain to the child why these bad habits need to be corrected quickly. This is also the transformation age from the very first dentist visit to the age where a child should see an orthodontist.
The Third Visit to the Dentist for Your Child
After the second visit at the age of four, many parents and dentists begin dental checkups every six months to a year. This depends on many factors and should be discussed with your dentist. However, at the age of seven, the child’s first molars breakthrough, resulting in a backbite.
At this age, dental professionals effectively evaluate all angles of your child’s mouth and teeth. This helps them properly identify future problems and create a plan to resolve the issues in an appropriate amount of time.
This is also a time when braces are recommended or required, depending on the dental health of the child. However, most children that need braces will not receive them until ages nine to 14. By attending regular visits at this age, you reduce many future dental issues.
Don’t Delay Your Child’s First Dental Visit
Baby teeth, or primary teeth, are important to your child’s oral health. These teeth determine if your child chews properly and develops proper speech patterns. If a child’s first dental visit is put off for too long, you risk your child developing lazy oral hygiene, lisps, tooth infections, and more.
As a reminder, ages one and four are critical ages for your child to go to the dentist. Age seven is an important age for your child to visit the dentist and orthodontist. To schedule your child’s first dental appointment, contact us at 519-821-3561.