CHILDREN DENTISTRY

The Canadian Dental Association recommends that children should have their first dental checkup by one year of age. The purpose of this initial visit includes:

1. Overall exam of the teeth present and checking for anomalies
2. State of oral hygiene
3. Review oral hygiene practices
4. Review diet recommendations

We recommend this appointment be scheduled as a tag along with one of the parents’ dental check-ups. A child’s worst fear is fear of the unknown! The advantage to the tag along is that the child can see that the check-up appointment is non threatening, fun, and comfortable.

What to expect when the baby teeth start coming in:

The first baby teeth will start to come in around 6-12 months, and they are the baby front teeth. The baby back teeth will continue to erupt until the age of 2 to 3, at which time there should be a total of 20 baby teeth.

Your child may experience discomfort called, “Teething Pain”, while the teeth are still erupting.

We recommend rubbing a cold wet cloth over the gums or the use of a cold teething ring to sooth the discomfort. Topical agents like Orajel are not recommend as they do not last long and the child will just be swallowing it again and again. For severe cases, an appropriate dose of child analgesic; based on age or weight may be given (consult with your doctor or pediatrician).

The permanent teeth will start to erupt at age 6 and the baby teeth will continue to be shed until age 10 to 12. The permanent teeth will continue to erupt until around age 18-21 whereby there should be a total of 28 teeth; excluding wisdom teeth. The number of wisdom teeth present can be range from 0 to 4+.