On my last visit to the dentist a couple of months ago, I picked up a leaflet about caring for children’s teeth. It said that a baby can start routine checkups as soon as he or she has any teeth to inspect.
Sometime last week, Pumpkin gave me a great big smile – full of teeth – and I realised that it was probably time for her first appointment.
I called the dentist and the receptionist confirmed that Pumpkin was ready for her first exam, so I made the appointment. All I had to bring (aside from the baby, of course) was a copy of her birth certificate, presumably for identification purposes, as well as to satisfy NHS requirements.
As we left the house, I stopped to take a photo of the lovely dramatic sky.
Pumpkin was a bit of a fusspot on the train. That is, until I got her out of her pram and let her ride in her own seat. It was only a few weeks ago that she did this for the first time and sat happily in her chair. Now that she’s almost standing, she insisted on propping herself up against the window and watching the world race by.
*Sniff* she’s growing up so fast!
We got off the train and made our way to the dentist office – and she of course fell asleep as I walked. This meant she was snoozing deeply when we arrived.
When we got into the exam room, the dentist offered to just look at her in the pram while she was sleeping, but I knew she would wake up. Besides, one of the main reasons to visit the dentist at this age is for her to get used to the sights, sounds and smells. So, I figured I might as well wake her up.
She was a little star throughout the exam, smiling and giggling for the dentist. He said the number of gnashers that she has are what he would expect at her age, adding that the molars are starting to work their way through too. This means we’re going to experience full-on teething pretty soon (the front ones are the easy ones, apparently). Oh, great.
Although she sat on my lap for the exam, before we left I propped her up in the dentist chair for a photo.
She was too busy exploring to look at the camera.
The dentist gave me the mirror he had used for – so I can check Pumpkin’s teeth without having to put my fingers in her mouth. She also got a couple of stickers for being so good. Those will go in her baby book.
We’re lucky that Frozen hasn’t been discovered in our house yet… but it won’t be long.
Some of the recommendations we got included:
- Start brushing her teeth if we haven’t already – it can help to start with a bit of gauze on a finger and some toothpaste to get her used to it.
- Avoid sugary foods an hour before bed
- She’s ready for some solids/semi-solids if we haven’t already (he seemed glad to hear we’re doing baby-led weaning and that she likes carrots so much)
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Her next appointment is in six months – just another routine check to see how the teeth are growing.
We then made our way back to the train station (with a detour to the enormous Tesco nearby).
On the way to the station, I snapped a photo of this lovely little rose.
And, as we waited for the train, I taught Pumpkin about thumb wrestling. Having missed most of her nap, she was a bit moody so I was trying to figure out creative ways to distract her. Mummy being a weirdo seemed to do the trick.
Apparently, you’re never too young for thumb wrestling.
What was your little one’s first trip to the dentist like? Do you have any advice for getting through molar-teething or teaching her how to brush her teeth? Please, share your thoughts in the comments section below!
As my LO had a dummy/soother I got him tommee tippee teether’s that are in the shape of a dummy. I used to sterilise them and then chill in the fridge. Dentinox teething gel is fab as well.
For brushing gums/teeth brush baby is great. They do chewable toothbrushes and dental wipes that you put on your finger to wipe their gums and new teeth.
Thanks for the suggestions, Joni. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the tommee tippee teethers. We’ve tried Dentinox, but it doesn’t seem to do much for her. We have the Brush Baby gum wipes, and are using the last of them up before actual brushing starts (or when she starts trying to take off my finger… that’ll probably happen first.) 🙂
Fab post and so important to get kids visiting the dentist early so they don’t feel scared, my two used kids electric toothbrushes early as advised by the dentist. What a lovely account, Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts
Aww lovely post. My little boy had a fear of the dentist after watching Nemo so we put off his first visit until a few months ago when he was just under two and a half, I know, bad parent alert! Anyhow his teeth are fine because he has a good diet and we brush a lot. One great tip the dentist gave us is to give them water after eating fruit – is neutralises the pH in the mouth. Additionally, don’t rinse off tooth paste! Phew this could have been a blog post in itself lol. Sorry! x
That’s a great tip – thanks for sharing. Lol. I never thought about how Finding Nemo might scare kids about the dentist! Might put that film on the backburner until she’s a bit older.