Time has flown and one father has suddenly realised his children's first visit to the dentist is long overdue. But has he left it too late? Our dental expert, Dr Nigel Carter, advises.

Raisingkids member's problem
My children are 5 and 4. I am ashamed to say that I have avoided taking them to the dentist until now because every time I raise the subject with my little girl she makes it quite clear that it is going to be difficult. We are very good at brushing their teeth twice a day, and sweets are kept very much as occasional treats. They also only drink water or fruit juice, apart from special occasions (birthdays) when they have lemonade. I know that I have been foolish in not taking them, and plan to rectify this by taking them to a dedicated children's practice that I have found out about. My question is, do I have a horror waiting for me at the first appointment? When should I have actually started taking them?

Dental expert's advice
I recommend that children should go to the dentist as soon as possible with their parents. Ideally this is when their first teeth begin to erupt as this will let them get used to the noises, smells and surroundings and prepare them for future visits. The earlier these visits begin, the more relaxed the children will be. If you have registered the children at a child friendly practice then I am sure that the staff will be sympathetic to the children’s needs and will treat them at a pace they can tolerate.

It is very important for parents not to suggest that a visit to the dentist may be a negative experience or to threaten children with the dentist if they do not clean their teeth. The earlier you take your children to visit the dentist, the more you ensure that their first visits are non-threatening and unlikely to involve any treatment other than examination. The worst possible introduction to dentistry of for a child to have to attend with decay and in pain.

You have quite correctly been brushing twice a day. It’s also important to use a pea sized amount of adult strength fluoride toothpaste. This is much more effective in preventing decay than the lower fluoride level seen in some child toothpastes.

I notice that you have also been giving your children fruit juices. It is very important to check the packaging of fruit juices as many of these contain added sugar in addition to the natural fruit sugars. Look out for sucrose, maltose and dextrose as additions on pack. Many fruit juices are high in acid and can lead to erosion of the teeth. To help prevent this encourage children to drink with a straw which moves the harmful juice away from the teeth to the back of the mouth and always dilute fruit juices around 10 to 1 to reduce the acidity.

Once you have visited the dentist make sure you keep up a regular routine of visits as often as the dentist recommends. Dentistry is definitely one area where prevention is certainly much better than a cure!