When to Take Your Child to the Dentist – ‘Got Kids’

February is National Dental Month! Find out when to take your child to the dentist and how to create good habits now, in our next 'Got Kids' feature!

I am proactive mom, so every kid's festival we went to I asked the people at the dental booths when my son needed to see a dentist and I was told. "Not until he was at least 3 or 4".

But that's not true! My son ended up having over $10,000 of dental work before he even turned three!

After experiencing the horror of having my child sedated to have most of his teeth fixed I want to make sure no mom or dad has to go through what we went through!

My son is not alone, unfortunately 40% of children will start kindergarten with some form of tooth decay!

Today I spoke with our sponsor Dr. Cox from Pediatric Dental Specialists which is who takes care of all my sons dental needs and he says:

Recommendations:

1. Children need to be seen no later than 12 months old
2. Talk about how to prevent decay with your dental provider
3. Specialists are different they do more than look for cavities, they monitor your child's teeth as they develop and focus on prevention
4. Don't base taking you child to the dentist on your past experiences, times have changed, it's easy and fun!

I also spoke to our local expert Jillian, a nurse with the Mesa County Health Department. Take a listen:

Tips:

1. Even if your child doesn't have any teeth coming in at 12 months it's a good idea to take them and:
   1. let them have a good experience
   2. get familiar with the chair
   3. get familiar with the dentist
   4. find out how to care for your child's mouth i.e. using a wash cloth to clean their gums
2. Start good habits early so they enjoy it as they grow
3. Check out easy products to maintain your children's oral health:
   1. wipes
   2. finger brushes
   3. finger puppets
4. Talk to your dentist about how to prevent tooth decay.
5. Tooth decay can effect your child's:
   1. health
   2. speech
   3. and MORE!

"Got Kids," in con-junction with the Partnership for Children & Families, is a NEW feature at 9:40 every Friday.

Covering early childhood growth and development, a variety of services, products and resources that serve Western Colorado. From immunizations to bath time, dentists to hotdogs, we're covering it all!

You can even submit questions to our local expert, Jillian Miller a nurse with the Mesa County Health Department.

Why is she our "Local Expert"? Take a listen to her credentials:

For MORE resources find them on:

1. Facebook
2. Online Got Kids Road Map