‘First visit by first birthday’ is a good guide but you can bring your child to the dentist as soon as their 1st tooth erupts!  The main aim of early dental contact is to start your child off with a lifetime of good oral health & hygiene habits.  Prevention is ALWAYS better than treatment.  Diet advice is essential as many foods that seem healthy can be very damaging to teeth.  Also early advise on soother use & thumb sucking can save a lot of future problems.  In some circumstances, early diagnosis may be made of oral disease, developmental tooth defects or perhaps missing or unusual shaped teeth.  Timely discovery of any potential problems can be invaluable in good management.