By: Dr Neda Gorji

5 top tips for your child’s first visit

When

A good time for a first dental visit is as soon as the child has a few teeth. This is usually around 2 years old but can be earlier like our little friend seen in the photo.

A child’s first visit is not always about the teeth.

Dental anxiety

Dental anxiety is real and so many parents pass it down to their children.

We are born with only two fears – loud noises and fear of falling – all other fears in life are learned, including fear of dental treatment!

Children are not naturally afraid of dental visits – they are only ever nervous if they have been ‘pre-frightened’ by parents or peers.

Dental treatment can be uncomfortable, which is why it is important to build a relationship with a child before we need to complete treatment. In other words, we have FUN, teach tips and fix bad habits before they cause problems.

Tongue Ties

if a child has or had trouble breast feeding tongue and lip ties should be checked and released if necessary and as soon as possible.

At Park St Dental Practice we believe that when the muscles have trouble working like they should they need help and we might have a solution.
Tongue and Lip Ties can make it hard to properly swallow food, move your mouth, breast feed and can change the way the face grows during a really important time of development.

Holes

It may be hard to believe but even very young babies can get holes in their teeth, this is often due to feeding habits or passed down from the parents to their child, it is all about the bugs. At Park St Dental Practice we can help assess habits and suggest simple interventions. We aim for preventive dental treatment for children and adolescents.

Holes in baby teeth can be an early sign of greater health problems and should not be treated lightly. Baby teeth are replaced eventually but they are best to be thought of as a trial run, with similar problems in baby teeth often found in adult teeth later in life.