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Kids dental

Hi! I am new to this website and i wanted to know what will be the good age time to take my kids to the dentist? I have a 2 year-old and a 3 yeard-old and i haven't taken them to the dentist will this affect them? What can i do?
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I have found that girls are usually more mature than boys and can be seen at a younger age. I would like to see them at no later than 4 years of age. I think you should be brushing their teeth and I am a firm believer in vitamins containing fluoride.
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Avatar universal
Hello! I'm not a dentist, but I have worked in a wonderful pediatric dental office in my area for 9 years. We reccommend that parents bring their children by age 1 or when they have a few teeth. Sure they will be very unhappy, but we can look for any problem areas you may not be able to see at home. Also we can show you techniques of how to brush and floss. I know it sounds a little crazy to take a little one so early, but a lot of times by the time we see patients at the age of 3 years they already have cavities. It is very sad. Our office is located in a more upper class area so the patients we see come from good homes, and have cavities. Also, sometimes the first visit for a little one could be because of an accident or a toothache and they are very sad when they come see us. First because they are upset about whatever the problem is and then secondly because they have never seen us or been in this enviroment. It's great to take your little one with you to the dentist and they can maybe take a ride in the chair and see mommy get her teeth cleaned. Sometimes this is a big help sometimes not it just depends on the child. Big things to watch is your child's diet. Water down their juice 1/2 and 1/2. Only let them drink juice or milk at meal times. If a child sips on juice all day they continually bathe their teeth in sugar and acid-making it a wonderful place for cavities to grow. Think about how little a baby tooth is. If they get a cavity it won't take long for that cavity to get big on a small tooth! Right! The most important time to brush their teeth are at night time!! Don't let them have anything after that except water. Make sure you do medicines before you brush their teeth too because they have lots of sugar in them!! As far as the fluoride intake I am a firm believer in what my employeer says: you should have your water tested for the amount of fluoride in the water. if you live in the city and have water that has fluoride in it you should not worry about a suppliment. Well water can have too little or too much natural fluoride. If you just give your child extra fluoride you could be doing more harm. Your children have permanent teeth forming now and too much fluoride can cause defects or what we call hypocalcified enamel which is very weak and most of these teeth usually end up needing to be crowned in the future. I wouldn't worry if you guys have city water because you can put that in their juices and get it to them that way. Use a fluoride toothpaste too. Your 2 year old (like mine) may not spit very well so just us a little drop.  I'm sorry I was a little long winded! Pediatrics is my passion and I just wanted to help if I could. Good-Luck!
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