At Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry, we strive to make your child’s first visit with us as pleasant and educational as possible. We recommend every child have their first visit around their first birthday, but we are always happy to meet older patients as well! Regardless of their age, we set aside plenty of time to acquaint our new friends to the office and gather all the necessary information to really get to know your child.

The visit starts with a short tour of the office and then you are led into a private room to meet with one of our hygienists. She will review your child’s medical and dental history and hear about any concerns you might have about your child’s teeth. We value this one-on-one time with parents to make sure we fully understand your child’s history. We also take photos of every new patient as a keepsake for parents and to feature on our “Sweet New Friends” board!

After getting to know each other, you and your child will be led into our “hygiene bay”, where all the action happens! We have an open bay concept so families with multiple children can be seen together and kids can watch older kids modeling good behavior. There are lots of toys to make children feel comfortable, and plenty of fun things to look at. The hygienist will allow your child (or you!) to pick toothpaste, floss, and fluoride flavors from our “Sweet Tooth Menu”. Your child’s teeth will be examined, cleaned, and flossed by a hygienist.

Many of our young patients prefer to sit on a parent’s lap for their first few visits. The “big boy/big girl” chair is usually introduced around age 3-4, or whenever a child is feeling brave enough to sit on their own! Below is a photo of Dr. Erica sitting knee-to-knee with a parent and her toddler. This is how we perform a lot of our exams and cleanings on little ones, so that their hands are secured by a parent and the dentist or hygienist has a great view of all the teeth. We even suggest sitting like this at home if children don’t like to have their teeth brushed! Once the cleaning is complete, Dr. Erica will come by to meet you and your child and do a comprehensive oral exam and apply the fluoride varnish treatment. She will review everything you went over with the hygienist, and answer any additional questions. Dr. Erica will make recommendations about your child’s diet, fluoride intake, and habits to ensure optimal oral health. We always make sure our new friends leave with plenty of goodies – a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, Sweet Tooth sunglasses, a photo from their first visit, stickers, and a super shiny smile!

We understand that many young patients will not willingly cooperate for a dental exam and cleaning, especially if it is their first time. As a pediatric dental office, we are certainly used to tears and sad faces from our smallest patients who don’t quite trust us yet but we work quickly and offer plenty of stickers and words of encouragement to try and soothe them. Many parents put off bringing their child to the dentist because they do not think their child will behave, but we encourage a dental visit regardless of behavior! There is a strong educational component of your child’s first dental visit that we would not want parents to miss out on in fear of an uncooperative child. The younger a child starts at our office, the sooner they will become comfortable with our office, our clinical team, and dental visits in general. And the greater their chance to grow up cavity-free, too!

Don’t hesitate to call our office with any questions regarding your child’s first visit. You are welcome to come tour the office and get to know us even before bringing your child – we know choosing a dental home for your child is a big decision and we want you to be comfortable in that choice! We hope to meet you soon!! Check out our website’s First Visit section for even more information.

Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry
583 Saybrook Road
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 347-4681
www.sweettoothkids.com