dentist?

[sunshine1215]

How many of you have taken your lo to dentist? Mine only has 4 teeth lol..did you find it beneficial?

[EmmieB1025]

My dentist doesn't see kids before 3 years old unless it's an emergency situation, but my pedi told me that they now recommend kids be seen by a children's dentist before 18 months. I haven't taken E, but am considering it since he has all of his top teeth, and only the front two and molars on bottom. There are no signs of the other bottom teeth.

[thedahliharpa]

I took my first around age 2 to make sure nursing to sleep wasn't ruining her teeth, it wasn't. The little one goes next month since her sister has an appt anyways. It's good to get them used to it and they will clean whatever teeth they do have at our office.

[muppetinma]

Andrew has already been. He went around the time he turned one. It was just a quick glimpse inside of his mouth, making sure we're brushing correctly, etc. Our insurance covers it and I want him to be comfortable there (not like he's actually going to remember going). It was quick and painless. If insurance didn't cover it, I'd probably wait until he was older.

[katfco]

We've taken both kids since they were a year, so Abby's been several times and Caleb has been once. I found it helpful. For the most part, it's to make sure the parents are on the right page, but they did do a fluoride treatment. Since susceptibility to cavities can be genetic (from what I understand), my kids need extra help.

I also liked talking to them and finding out what kind of toothpaste to use, since those recommendations can change from year to year. We go to the college of dentistry for Caleb, since our current dentist won't see kids until age 3.

[sunshine1215]

Thanks, I'm a nursing student, and now the recommendation is by the 1st birthday.. Which I think is a little silly if good brushing habits are established and there are no obvious issues

[kdrake8]

I'm so torn. We have 2.5 and I am not sure whether it would just be a waste of time.

[livinreality]

Aug 30, 2013 12:55:51 GMT -5 EmmieB1025 said:

My dentist doesn't see kids before 3 years old unless it's an emergency situation, but my pedi told me that they now recommend kids be seen by a children's dentist before 18 months. I haven't taken E, but am considering it since he has all of his top teeth, and only the front two and molars on bottom. There are no signs of the other bottom teeth.

This is my problem. Our family dentist starts seeing kids at 3y, the pediatric dentist see kids at 12m. We visited the pediatric dentist (twice just to be fair) with DS1 was awful (smelly, long wait for scheduled appt, didn't talk to DS, no toothbrush/sticker/ toy reward). So unless i find a friend with an awesome pediatric dentist recommendation we will probably wait till 3. 

[DesertMoon]

Im in Dental assisting and I've asked my instructor this question before. She said whenever baby can sit still long enough to have a looksie in their mouth it's an ok time to go. They just check out the teeth and discuss brushing, nothing fancy, but it does help the kids become more comfortable with dentist visits.

[jaime183]

we went right after his birthday to a pediatric dentist. Our insurance covered it so it was worth it for us.
We currently have 12-14 teeth (the canines have just popped through but aren't down yet) and he got his first tooth at 5m so it made sense to go earlier.

They did do a fluoride treatment on him.

If we had to pay full price I probably would've waited until 2.

[monkeybabe]

My dentist said that at her current age, 1) She won't sit still long enough, so it would be more like a wrestling match, and 2) they'd rather not make the dentist a negative experience from the start, so they prefer seeing babies when they're a little older. She said that at around 2 she'd like Zoe to come in and ride the chair up and down a few times and then have her come in at a later time and see if she'll let them see inside her mouth.

[jaime183]

Aug 30, 2013 15:42:53 GMT -5 monkeybabe said:

My dentist said that at her current age, 1) She won't sit still long enough, so it would be more like a wrestling match, and 2) they'd rather not make the dentist a negative experience from the start, so they prefer seeing babies when they're a little older. She said that at around 2 she'd like Zoe to come in and ride the chair up and down a few times and then have her come in at a later time and see if she'll let them see inside her mouth.

I was surprised that the pediatric dentist was not a wrestling match (given how much he fights us every night to brush his teeth).
We were really happy that ours was a positive experience

[monkeybabe]

Aug 30, 2013 15:45:23 GMT -5 jaime183 said:

Aug 30, 2013 15:42:53 GMT -5 monkeybabe said:

My dentist said that at her current age, 1) She won't sit still long enough, so it would be more like a wrestling match, and 2) they'd rather not make the dentist a negative experience from the start, so they prefer seeing babies when they're a little older. She said that at around 2 she'd like Zoe to come in and ride the chair up and down a few times and then have her come in at a later time and see if she'll let them see inside her mouth.

I was surprised that the pediatric dentist was not a wrestling match (given how much he fights us every night to brush his teeth).
We were really happy that ours was a positive experience

Zoe freaks out if you try to look in her mouth. Absolutely loses it. I let her brush her own teeth, even though I know it's not thorough.

[jaime183]

Aug 30, 2013 15:46:17 GMT -5 monkeybabe said:

Aug 30, 2013 15:45:23 GMT -5 jaime183 said:

I was surprised that the pediatric dentist was not a wrestling match (given how much he fights us every night to brush his teeth).
We were really happy that ours was a positive experience

Zoe freaks out if you try to look in her mouth. Absolutely loses it. I let her brush her own teeth, even though I know it's not thorough.

have you tried the Brush Your Teeth Elmo video?
for some unknown reason he opens his mouth and lets us brush during the stupid video! it's babycrack.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxMrtK-kYnE

[greenkitty98]

Aug 30, 2013 13:05:44 GMT -5 katfco said:

We've taken both kids since they were a year, so Abby's been several times and Caleb has been once. I found it helpful. For the most part, it's to make sure the parents are on the right page, but they did do a fluoride treatment. Since susceptibility to cavities can be genetic (from what I understand), my kids need extra help.

I also liked talking to them and finding out what kind of toothpaste to use, since those recommendations can change from year to year. We go to the college of dentistry for Caleb, since our current dentist won't see kids until age 3.

Susceptibility to cavities can definitely be genetic. We thought we were fine waiting with B (took him to the family dentist at 2, but didn't push him to let them do anything the first few times) because we had good brushing habits, but he still ended up with cavities that fluoride treatments might have let us avoid.

We have since switched to a pediatric dentist that we love. She saw P at 14 months (3.5 teeth) and gave her a fluoride treatment (and it was in no way stressful/scary for P, since she was sitting on my lap). She is also having us use a toothpaste (safe to swallow) with xylitol (prohibits bacteria growth) in the morning and a kids fluoride toothpaste (just a tiny smear...and P actually spits some of it out after brushing) in the evening.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

[TrudyCampbell]

We've been to the dentist. She had a specific problem but even if she didn't we would have gone by now. Our pedi recommends going with the 1st tooth.

[browneyedhunni85]

He will probably go in a few months. The dentist I work for said itself mainly just to get them use to it and they usually just look around in their mouth.

[devotchka]

Aug 30, 2013 15:39:16 GMT -5 DesertMoon said:

Im in Dental assisting and I've asked my instructor this question before. She said whenever baby can sit still long enough to have a looksie in their mouth it's an ok time to go. They just check out the teeth and discuss brushing, nothing fancy, but it does help the kids become more comfortable with dentist visits.

This is the most solid answer I've ever heard - nice to hear it from a professional. My pedi said go as soon as he gets teeth (started at 11 months) and we just thought there is NO way he is going to sit and let anyone look in his mouth anytime soon. She gave us her "look" of judgment (I love her but she insists on things sometimes) but honestly, he barely lets us brush his teeth, he is NOT ready.

[DesertMoon]

Also a good tip I learned for avoiding cavities in young children's teeth is too avoid cariogenic foods at snack times, save them for meals. Cariogenic foods are stuff like raisins and honey, anything sticky really, it just sits on the teeth and wears on them. So if your giving your kid honey on toast or raisins everyday at noon, with nothing else to clear away the stickiness until 3 pm...which also may entail more sticky foods, your kid will be more susceptible to cavities.

[mscatra]

Aug 30, 2013 13:00:44 GMT -5 Loco Coco said:

Nope. My pedi said 3 unless you see issues. He said it was a waste otherwise because the just look, and its hard to get them to cooperate.

Our dentist says the same thing, and I have to say I agree.  Our pedi covers basic tooth care info when we visit, and we brush Maggie's teeth at least twice a day.  Sometimes more, because she likes to "brush" with us, so we let her practice.  I think if most of her teeth were already in (#6 just broke surface Thursday) and her mouth wasn't a steel trap, I might consider giving it a low expectations try at a pediatric dentist.

[mumegs]

I asked my pedi and he said to take her by 2-2.5. She has 16 teeth so I was kind of worried I should be taking her now since she has so many. He said just make sure we're brushing them every day. I would have to add her to my dental plan too which I can't do until October for 2014.