Your Child's First Visit
Citrus Heights, CA
 Establishing a good relationship with oral hygiene can set your children up for a life of positive oral healthcare routines and beautiful, healthy teeth. Part of keeping their teeth and gums healthy is ensuring they feel comfortable with visits to a dentist. At Weideman Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, our dental professionals understand that little ones may find the dentist scary. With that in mind, we offer an approach that ensures a comfortable environment focused on putting our littlest patients at ease.
Scheduling the First Visit
It is recommended that children be seen by a pediatric dentist within six months of their first tooth erupting, but before their first birthday. This may seem early in life, particularly if your child has just a few little teeth.
It is important to keep in mind that this first visit will offer an opportunity for our dentist to provide you with information that relates to the dental wellness of your child. This could include information related to baby bottle tooth decay, teething, brushing teeth, along with pacifier and thumb-sucking habits.
Preparing for the Visit
More often than not, the first dental visit for an infant or toddler is essentially an icebreaker to introduce our dental office as a safe and friendly place to visit. Taking the time to make this introduction appointment can help to make subsequent visits to the dentist stress-free.
When possible, schedule your child’s appointment early in the morning. Young children tend to be alert and more cooperative than they would otherwise be if they were tired and overstimulated from a long day. Preschoolers and older children can be prepared by having a discussion about what they could expect during their visit. Explain to them why it is so important that they are seen by our dentist. Keep the discussion general, but upbeat with an element of excitement.
Parents with dental anxieties should take care not to relay fears to children. Children can often be sensitive to the anxieties of their parents, and in turn display signs of anxiety themselves.
What to Expect
The first visit should last between 30 and 45 minutes. This first visit may include a full dental examination of the mouth, teeth, gums, bite and other oral tissues, in order to check on growth and development. This may, of course, depend on the age of the child.
Any decay will need to be addressed, so that it does not accelerate into a more serious concern. Baby teeth may fall out, but that does not mean they do not have an important role to play. Keeping them healthy is important to ensuring ongoing dental wellness.
If the child is receptive to it, a gentle cleaning may be done. This will include removing plaque, tartar and polishing the teeth.
Proper brushing and flossing techniques may be demonstrated, so that you and your child understand just how to take care of those pearly whites.
It is recommended that children, just like adults, are seen by our dentist every six months. At Weideman Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics we offer a child-friendly environment that will allow each of our patients to feel at ease while embarking on their dental wellness journey. Call us at (916) 962-0577 to schedule their first appointment. A lifetime of good oral health begins early.
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