I had this Talk with My dentist who is Also a mom!

She said some kids come in at 1 And Are Great , and some kids come in at 3 and Are Horrible.
Sooooo. Her and I Agreed its when the parent thinks their child will do ok -
Usually that means 3 to 4 yrs. of age ( the majority of First timers who Are ready and She can actually do an exam properly.)

Our Dental office does a " Kids day " Once a Yr. in August and my 4 yr. old is going that day for the first time AND my Dentists 3 yr. old Son is also Going that day.

Our dentist prefers them to be at least 3 years old unless their are specific dental reasons to go earlier. I am not looking forward to it, either.

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Wendy~Self-proclaimed hippie momma to Bob and Jamie

Just took dd and ds today. DD just turned 5. I waited because she tends to have anxiety about alot of things (she crys to break your heart when the landscapers come because of the noise) including going to docs & dents and really I didn't want to fight with her or scare her into it so I took ds and her and we went the whole time there she is nervous telling my son he has to go first and how come I have to take her that I am mean for taking her ds is telling her it is no big deal you will see. So ds goes first I felt so bad for him he has so many problems with his teeth he has to have a few extracted this is in addition to having 7 cavities filled a few years ago he was so upset. DD goes not a single cavity and she was so good doing xrays and cleaning and flouride treatement. She can not wait to go back and ds doesn't want to go anymore.

i thought this way with my oldest he did not go until he was going into kindergarten we thought his teeth looked fine when we brushed and looked at them boy were we wrong he had a crack in the back of one of his molars and two small cavities in between the teeth where we could not see.. so he had to have a cap put on the cracked tooth and two fillings.. cost us several hundred dollars with insurance.. i learned my lesson i'm not a dentist..

if you have insurance check ups are free i would take them...jmo

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Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.

I took my DS to a pediactric dentist and they were wonderful. I'd specifically look for one that specializes in kids if you have the option.

I took my ds when he turned 3, he did really well and was old enough to reason with. I only take him once a year because of the cost. I just took my dd at 2 1/2 with him to have her first appt. she was able to watch big bro. first but I still had to sit in the chair with her and then she allowed the dentist to brush her teeth. But I was always told 3 was the best age to start.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

Our dentist recommends a childs first appointment be at the age of 3.

So far, my oldest 5 have gone starting at the age of 3 and all of them did fine.
The twins will be going as soon as they turn 3 also, and I expect them to do fine also.

Mine all went before they were one and go every six months after that.

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Elizabeth

Mom to: Anna (02-27-91) Bradley (10-21-94) Shane (10-21-02) Samuel (02-16-07)
http://www.myspace.com/lizer3
Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.

My dentist wants to see kids at 3 yo. So we took my ds in for his first checkup when he was 3. He had been in with me for a prior cleaning and in with dh for a prior cleaning first though so he could see what they'd be doing to him. It went really well thankfully. They brushed and flossed his teeth and he did great.

Trace went first when he was 15 mos. old. He had caps at 18 months and it was a horrible experience. He went back after that for a check up and did fairly well. He had one other check up after that and is getting his teeth cleaned in July. That I do not look forward to.