Preparing for Your Child’s First Dental Visit

Taking a child to see a dentist can be a big ordeal for some, while others take it in stride. In 2018, 85.9% of children aged two to 17 years visited the dentist. To ensure your kid’s oral health is in check, how can you get your child ready for their first local dentist appointment?

What Can You Expect?

During the first visit, the local dentist will examine your child’s mouth and make sure everything is growing and developing properly and will check for any signs of tooth decay, tongue contact, and injury. The examination and cleaning may take only a few minutes, but most of the time is spent on making the child feel comfortable and educating the parents. You should not expect the overall visit to take too long.

Choose the Right Dentist

The first step is to find a pediatric dentist for your child. Pediatric dentists have an additional two to three years of training after dental school, during which they study child development, managing the behavior of patients from infancy through adolescence, and how best to work with children with special needs. Most pediatric dentists aim to provide a fun environment with toys, stickers, televisions, games, delicious toothpaste, and staff who love working with children. When children have fun, they gain confidence in the dentist and staff, often enjoy their visits, and look forward to their next appointment.

Prepare Your Child Mentally

Once you have made an appointment, prepare your child for the visit. Children learn best when they are having fun. They can practice examining their stuffed animal with a toy mirror. Your child can take the same stuffed animal to the dentist for a dental checkup. When talking to your child about the next visit to the local dentist, you can assure them that there are no shots at this visit. The dentist will examine and brush their teeth and talk about how to keep their teeth healthy. The more they know, the better.

Schedule an Appointment with Our Fuquay-Varina Dentist Today

Children have a fear of anything unknown, so you want to set them at ease as early as possible. If you can get them past the first visit, the rest is easier. Dental health should not be scary, and you hold a big part of the key!  If you are looking to book an appointment for your little one in Fuquay-Varina, we are accepting patients and are dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate care to the whole family. You can schedule an appointment by filling out our form below. Or, you can call us directly at (919) 552-2431. We can’t wait to meet you!