Caroline started getting her first teeth at around 12 months of age! I swore she was teething at the early age of 3 months when she started gnawing on everything, drooling, biting etc. Those cute little baby teeth didn’t poke through until her first birthday, however! I ended up being so thankful that this was the case, since I breastfed for a full year!
She is now almost 18 months old. She has 4 front teeth on top, and two on the bottom. She currently has the bottom incisors cutting through, and her top molars are rearing their ugly heads as well! Molars have been quite the process so far, and they aren’t even through yet! The top right molar is finally cutting, however, and she has huge mountains on all 4 molars ready to poke through!
First dentist appointments are now being recommended at the age of 1 year. We didn’t follow these guidelines since Caroline didn’t have any teeth at that age to show the dentist. Now that she is 1.5 with several teeth, we decided it was time to find a dentist.
I chose our dentist based on 4 things:
– Website
– Recommendations
– Atmosphere
– Location
I looked on our local parents Facebook page for some recommendations. I then took a look at the websites. I wanted to make sure their websites were set up well. I think this says a lot about a company/doctors office in todays technology driven world.
Once I found websites that were easy to navigate, had good information, and offices that were accessible online via email, I narrowed those down by my favorite locations, and those that appeared to have a kid friendly atmosphere set up.
Most had great pictures of the play areas and rooms highlighting their office. At that point, I simply chose one that worked with our insurance and scheduled an appointment. I didn’t feel the need to visit ahead of time. We can always switch to another office later if we have any issues.
I was very pleased with our visit today! The office was friendly and had an AMAZING kid space in the waiting room. There were tablets to play games on, toys, books, and even an infant area. I think we could have stayed there all day!
The first visit is mostly for the dentist to inform parents of good practices, and for the child to get used to going to the dentist at an early age. This way it becomes a positive association.
At our visit:
The technician looked at Caroline’s teeth and counted them.
She brushed Caroline’s teeth.
She put a fluoride coating on her teeth.
The dentist took a look and made sure that Caroline didn’t have any cavities.
Caroline received some special goodies.
They informed me of best practices (that we are luckily already doing):
Brush twice a day (stand behind your child so you brush like you would your own teeth).
No hard candies on a regular basis.
Not to give milk all day and all night.
Not to let your child fall asleep with the aid of milk.
Start flossing once there are two teeth touching.
Start using fluoride toothpaste by the age of two. Can use now if we’d like.
I sat in the chair with Caroline on my lap. She got to wear fancy sunglasses. We brought our “Going to the Dentist
View what to expect at your child’s 2 year dental appointment here!