Dr. Choo recommends infants as early as one year old come for their first dental visit. It may be a quick look, a quick ride up and down in the dental chair, and an introduction of dental instruments like the mirror and explorer to help them feel at ease for future visits.
By age 2-3 yrs old, we recommend regular six month dental visits and polishing to develop good oral habits, watch for potential problems or issues, and to help familiarize the child so they are not so anxious should the need arise for dental treatments such as fillings. Our office is committed to preserving healthy primary teeth. Primary teeth do fall out eventually but they are very important to the development of chewing and speech, and hold space for permanent teeth.
By age 5, digital radiographs are often taken to assess for cavities, and development and/or presence of permanent teeth. There afterwards, radiographs are taken every one and a half to two years if cavities are not present (in cavity prone children we may require radiographs every 6-12months).
From ages 5+ we recommend regular check ups and scalings. At our office, each patient is evaluated for their individual needs. For example, a child undergoing orthodontic treatment should have scalings done every 3 months to help teeth stay clean amongst all the hardware. Patients with chronic gum disease should also have more frequent scalings to help keep the disease from destroying the bone support around teeth by removing the plaque and tartar build up.
So whether you’re breaking in your first tooth, or you’ve never had a cavity or you’ve got full dentures, we want to help develop good oral hygiene habits to last a lifetime.
