It is recommended that your child comes in around his/her first birthday. Our goal is to prevent dental problems and the first visit of a child to a dental office should not be associated with pain. At the first visit the dentist will examine the child’s teeth. The goal also is to get the child familiar with the dental office and get to know our staff as their friends. We let the child play with the dental chair and he gets to pick a toy from the treasure chest. If the child is very unhappy with coming, we do not force an examination and try again in 6 months. The goal is to become a friend and someone the child trusts. No treatment is ever forced on the child and most children quite happily let us clean their teeth on a gradient.