You may ask your dentist or other dentists:  "When is the best time to bring my child to the dentist?"  You may get many responses, but at our office, we believe the best time to bring children in to see the dentist for the first time is when they get their FIRST TOOTH.  Some may not agree with us, but studies show that children that visit the dentist earlier in their life are less likely to need as much dental work later in their life.  This is because we use our dental health exams to evaluate the developing dentition (teeth) and look for any issues that could become a bigger problem if left untreated.  This time is also important to educate the patient and the caregiver (parent) with what to look for and avoid to encourage healthy habits (we also have a lot of interesting tips for home-care).  More often than not, finding and treating a dental problem earlier is a lot easier than when it becomes bigger or larger.  Prevention and education is the goal of dental visits at a very young age and is truly the foundation for a healthy future for all of their future teeth.

While babies, toddlers, and young children are generally not very cooperative at a young age, most warm up to seeing the dentist in subsequent visits; especially if your child has a fear of the unknown or "Stranger danger".  We have found that it is helpful when you bring your child in with you at your own or an older sibling's dental cleaning visit.  In this way, they get to "see" before they "do" for their own appointment.  We have to develop a relationship with your child in order for us to trust us.  We like to call their first visits with us "happy visits" as they lay the foundation for future visits with us.  We have some pretty cool prizes to pick from and I take requests for balloon animals and figurines to make for my patients.

Baby (deciduous or primary) teeth are different from Adult (permanent) teeth.  Baby teeth are more vulnerable to decay because their enamel is thinner than adult teeth.  There is physically less tooth structure that decay would have to travel through to reach the nerve (pulp) inside of the teeth which can cause pain and infection once this process occurs.  Dental decay is the most common, preventable disease in children.  It is also one of the most common reasons kids miss school.  Children generally need help to clean their teeth until their hand skills have improved.  I normally tell my parents of my patients that they should brush their child's teeth until they have good hand writing.  

Why save (or fix) baby teeth that have become decayed?  Baby teeth save the space for the future adult teeth that replace them.  If baby teeth are lost earlier than their developing adult teeth are ready to replace them, the space for the adult teeth could be compromised or lost as the body generally tries to close spaces in the mouth.  Once the space is lost between the baby teeth, this could cause eruption issues for the adult teeth that plan to replace the baby teeth.  Not all baby teeth are replaced by adult teeth at the same time.  Some of the baby teeth are not shed or replaced by adult teeth until 11 or 12 years old.  In some instances, the adult tooth fails to form and therefore the baby tooth may remain (or need to remain) in place.