Taking your child to their first dental appointment
Your child’s first dental appointment is important as it often sets up their expectations and emotions towards future dental visits. We recommend scheduling the visit early in the morning, when your child is awake, alert, energetic and excited – rather than towards the afternoon when they are more likely to be tired, or sleepy. It is wise to allow them to see a parent or older sibling have their appointment before the child has their own. Our treatment rooms are large enough to have 1 parent sit with the child whilst another parent or sibling is having treatment.
Your child’s first dental appointment generally involves taking photos of the teeth and counting their teeth to make sure everything is in the right place. We recommend explaining this to your child the night before so they are not surprised by the appointment.
What age should children go to the dentist?
We recommend your child to have their first dental visit when they: 1) have a few teeth in their mouth, and 2) able to open their mouth long enough to have their teeth counted
How often should you take your kid to a children’s dentist?
For most children, we recommend 12 monthly (yearly visits). However, some children have a history of decay, trauma, or other issues that require more frequent monitoring. Your paediatric dentist will advise after their first assessment.
Common issue seen in children’s teeth
Children’s teeth may have similar issues as adult teeth. This includes decay, fractures, or chips due to falls and accidents. However, children’s are also growing and have baby (deciduous) teeth that fall out and adult teeth that are developing and erupting. This means there’s more happening in their mouth and we also need to pay attention to grow and tooth eruption sequence as well.
What is the difference between paediatric dentistry and adult dentistry?
Although paediatric dentistry and adult dentistry face similar issues, there are also lots of differences. Baby (deciduous) teeth are important to allow your child to chew, talk, and maintain space for the adult teeth. Therefore it is important to look after baby teeth. Deciduous teeth also have different types of enamel compared to adult teeth and are less resistant to decay. Decay also spreads much quicker, and we don’t want adult teeth to erupt into a mouth with active decay as the bacteria can move around. It is also important to keep children’s teeth healthy as they maintain space for adult teeth to grow into.
Looking for a paediatric dentist in Perth?
At Iconic Dentistry, we have children’s dentists in Perth that are happy to look after your whole family including young children. Our paediatric dentists in Perth also look after general dentistry, emergency dentistry, and wisdom teeth removal. Book now!
