What do you do for a one year old?
Although it may seem really early, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend that your child be seen by a Pediatric Dentist by age 1 for a number of important reasons. The focus of an infant dental visit is preventive, educating parents and caretakers about oral health care from an early age. At this visit, we will do an oral screening, provide you with oral hygiene instructions, and discuss pacifier, finger, or other oral habits.
We also highly value an early visit by 1 year of age because we want to "catch" cavities early. In its beginning stage, a cavity does not always have to be treated with a filling or restoration. Simple diet and oral hygiene instructions along with proper fluoride treatment and/or a fluoride varnish treatment may suffice in keeping the tooth healthy. By the time some children see a Pediatric Dentist at 3 years of age, they may have extensive (rampant) dental disease and require many fillings and possibly some extractions!
At this first visit your child may cry and not cooperate well during the appointment, so we will ask for your help during the exam. A knee-to-knee exam keeps your baby in your lap, where he/she will feel safe and secure. By laying your child down in your lap, we can get a good look at most of his/her teeth and determine the right guidance plan for your child's specific needs. As regular dental visits are kept every 6 months, this process will become easier and easier for your child. Eventually your child will enjoy coming to see us for his/her regular six month dental visits.
Doctor Wang, Doctor Perea-Corkish, Doctor Gerodias and the other Doctors of Discovery Pediatric Dentistry make no warranties, expressed or implied, as to any results to be obtained from use of the information on this page. We cannot diagnose or treat patients over the Internet. Information on this site is for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal, medical, and/or dental attention or diagnosis. Without all available information about a patient, it is impossible to make a diagnosis. Help and answers are in the form of general ideas. Only you, your dentist, and other necessary and qualified health care providers can make an appropriate treatment decision in an emergency or for everyday care and dental treatment.