This seemed like a natural way to start off our new blog. It also happens to be a question that we hear all the time in and out of the office. Unfortunately, when you ask health care providers this question you'll get a wide range of answers.
Currently, a child's first visit to the dentist often happens at around age 3. This is two years later than recommended by both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). What's with this discrepancy and why are so many doctors and dentists still telling us to bring our kids in at age 3? Old habits are hard to break!
Over the past decade we've noticed a few trends that have caused us to reevaluate our approach to dentistry. First, it's becoming more and more apparent that our oral health is closely linked to our overall general health (see the relationship between periodontal disease and heart disease for example). Second, dental disease is usually preventable, so the old dental paradigm of "drill and fill" oral health is shifting to one focused mainly on the prevention of disease. Finally, while dental decay rates have decreased in the population at large over the last decade, rates have actually increased in children over the same time period! Today, almost one out of every three preschool age children will develop dental decay, an increase from about one in four ten years ago! There seems to be several reasons for this (that we can talk about in future postings) including the drinking of bottled water and the prevalence of refined sugars.
Our goal for the year one visit is to provide patients with a "dental home". These early visits aren't like the dental visits you and I have, and aren't even like those that our older toddlers and adolescents have. In our office, during these early visits much of the time is spent talking to parents and caregivers. We also take a very quick look in the baby's mouth while the baby sits on their parent's lap. We keep this visit as low stress as possible. Usually the baby will cry for a few seconds (that's when we get our quick peek!), but then quickly recovers as the look is quick and painless (and there are prizes involved too!). Dental cleanings and fluoride treatments are very rarely done at this appointment.
Establishing this "dental home" accomplishes three things:
1. We can provide parents with a risk assessment for their baby based on their family history, the baby's current diet and hygiene practices, and the current condition of the baby's teeth.
2. Using this risk assessment, we can give parents anticipatory guidance. This means that, based on the visit, we can advise parents as to what they can expect from their baby's dental development. Also, we can tailor our recommendations to help guide parents and prevent their babies from developing dental disease.
3. In our experience, children who have these low stress visits regularly from a young age usually have less dental anxiety as toddlers and adolescents.
We hope this helps all of you young parents out there! Please don't hesitate to write with any comments and/or questions! And check out the following sites for more information:
www.aapd.org
www.aap.org/healthtopics/oralhealth.cfm
See you soon!
Dr. Jeremy Dixon
gramercykidsdental.com
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As a new father, I am surprised to hear that children should be seen by age 1. It makes sense. What should I expect at my first visit when I bring in our son? When will he get his baby teeth?
ReplyDeleteThe first visit is mainly a consultation to discuss your son's oral health, habits, and home care. We will take a brief look in his mouth while he sits on your lap. This will help us guide you as to the best way to care for his teeth. Kids typically get their first teeth (usually the two lower front teeth) at around six months. Some kids get them much later so don't be concerned if you don't see them right away. The order in which they come in is also variable.
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