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Child's First Visit |
Your child's first visit to a dental clinic must be a pleasant experience. Otherwise the scar of the first impression will last a lifetime. The right time to bring a child for a dental visit is before all the milk teeth have appeared - before the child has completed 2 years of age. This sets the stage for ideal preventive dentistry, something that this individual will appreciate when he/she has grown up cavity-free.
There are several reasons for this early visit:
Bringing a child when there is no emergency will make the visit a pleasant experience.
Parents may not recognize a dental problem in it's early stages.
Your dentist can prevent problems like decay from occuring.
Advise on nutrition and home care can be provided.
Fear of the dental clinic is not inborn. It is learnt either from personal experience or what a child hears from others. Be completely natural when you inform your child about this visit. Make it sound like a routine item. Allow your child to get familiar with the dental clinic. Most important - do not show any anxiety or fear yourself. Children pick-up non-verbal cues very quickly and tend to mirror the emotions of their parents.
It is upto parents to decide whether they want their child to be cavity-free. The technology is available, all that is required is the will to use it to your benefit.
