Every individual has dental issues during the course of his/her life but when it is pertaining to children of small age it becomes very critical and one has to take extreme care for such cases. So even if the child is healthy one should regularly have the opinion of pedodontists.

For almost all parents it is a common worry that when they should take their child to pedodontist. This article deals with issues, procedures and general guidelines for such parents.

THINGS THE PARENTS SHOULD KNOW:

The need to take the child to the dentist:

  • Taking child at young age is best to prevent problems like tooth decay and help parents learn how to clean their child’s teeth and identify their fluoride needs because baby teeth play an important role in helping child bite, chew food and speak clearly.
  • Bringing child for an early visit leads to lifetime of good oral habits and acclimates child to dental office thereby reducing anxiety and fear which will make stress free visits in future.

When a child be taken to the doctor:

  • Most of parents think that their children are healthy and don’t need advice of dentist .But the fact is that all parents should seek advice of pedodontist. According to American Academy of Pediatric Dentists which is widely recognized society of pediatric dentists recommends that first visit should be by first birthday or by six months after eruption of first tooth.

Tips to make the child ready for the first dental visit:

  • The most complex thing for parent is to prepare their child for first visit. 
  • For this following points may help parents to make their child ready for the visit :
  1. Before visit parents are advised to ask dentist about procedure about 1st visit so there are no surprises.
  2. Plan a course of action for either reaction a child may exhibit- cooperative or non-co- operative.
  3. Very young child may be fussy.
  4. Build excitement and understanding in children about the upcoming visit.
  5. Take time to play ‘dentist’ with child at home and pretend like we are counting the teeth.
  6. Must avoid words like ‘drill’ and ‘needle’.
  7. Make dental appointment an expected part of routine and not a ‘special’ event.
  8. Child shouldn’t be bribed for the visit.
  9. Arrange for appointment to be at time when child is well rested.

THINGS A DENTIST WILL DO:

Encouragement for the parents:

  • When parent first sees a dentist, he should encourage them by appreciating their concern and questions, talk about child’s overall health including development, teething, bite, soft tissues like gums and cheeks and oral habits like sucking.

Technique to examine the child during first visit:

  • Dentist thoroughly examines child’s mouth.
  • Parent and dentist sit on chairs facing each other.
  • Child sits on parent’s lap facing the dentist. Parent then lay child’s back with his/her head in dentist’s lap.
  • In this position both parent and dentist can see clearly in child’s mouth.
  • Dentist shows how to clean child’s teeth and give parent chance to practice.
  • Dentist gives advice about home care, hygiene, diet and use of tooth paste and other fluorides.
  • Dentist tells parent what to expect as child grows and develops in coming months and schedule for follow up care.

Probable next visit:

  • Children like adults should see dentist every six months.
  • Dentist may schedule interim visits for every for months when child is very young to build up comfort and confidence level or to treat a developing problem.
  • Recall may vary according to different child’s oral needs.