First Visit with a Dentist

Hi K.! I would have to agree that putting the kids on the dental plan at this point would be a little premature. I started taking my daughter when she was 2. There is a wonderful place here in Jacksonville and the "no insurance" cost is $98.00. They may have changed but that is what I paid the last time I took my daughter. She loves it there, they have an under water theme with aquariums everywhere and tv's on the ceiling. The fist time I took my daughter, she was scared and the hygienist sat my daughter on her lap and cleaned her teeth. I was very impressed with how kind and loving she was. Anyway, their website is http://www.setzerandcochran.com and they are located in Baymeadows.

That's what I thought also.....right up until my adventerous 3 year old decided to climb on something she shouldn't at pre-school and did a nose-dive before the teacher's aide could get to her. It cost over $2,000 to fix the damage to her baby teeth. Not doing what we could to save them would have had a ripple affect on how her permanent teeth came in according to the dentist. I enrolled my daughter on my dental plan the very moment my employer opened up enrollment. Also, the check-up and cleaning needs to be twice a year with x-rays every time.

I started taking my oldest son to the dentist at age 2. He is now nearly 4 and my youngest started at age 1 and is now nearly 2. I did contemplate paying out of pocket for their cleanings, but my hubby just decided to add them to insurance. We go 2 times a year. I am glad we took them early as they were able to give me advise on getting their teeth a bit more clean than I was able to do originally. They also helped me with some concerns with "tongue tied" (although they turned out false) that their doctor couldn't confirm because they couldn't get his mouth open in a clamp to check the way the dentist (and staff) could.

Well I don't know about dentists yet, I haven't taken my 2 yr old son yet. But we have started to see the eye doctor already once a year. Our eye doctor says it is a good way to get them use to have it done and should not become afraid of going.
I am hoping to start taking he to the dentist soon too. Money is tight right now but soon.

I started to take my now 31 month old to the dentist as 18 months because she started getting stains on her teeth that we couldn't get off. Turns out it was an overabundance of blueberries and blackberries staining her teeth, but nothing major. We signed her up for our dental plan immediately (easy since we had a family plan anyway) and take her twice a year. Her dentist has given me some great tips for getting her to brush and starting to floss (that's an adventure in and of itself). When you are looking for a dentist, definitely go for a pediatric dentist, someone who is not only good with kids themselves, but who's office is also good with kids. Let me know if you need a recommendation, as I love my daughter's dentist, even if I have to drive a bit.

Good luck!