Preventive Dentistry Your Child`s First Dental Appointment The importance of preventive dentistry was established a long time ago. Dentists recommended that a child`s first dental appointment begin as early as age three.A dental checkup can reveal many problems which parents are not aware of.One problem often seen by dentists is called baby bottle syndrome and is common in children around age three.This happens when parents let their children sleep with a bottle of milk or juice.A dental checkup before the start of a school year is just as important as a medical checkup.Some parents refuse to bring their children to the dentist for a check up because their children do not have any pain or noticeable problems.Children often have teeth with small caveties and gum or crowding problems,which parents are not aware of.With early detection, caveties can be treated with a simple restoration.if not diagnosed and treated early, these problems may result in more extensive procedures like pulptomy or a crown, which can be both costly and inconvenient for a child and the parents . Another issue is proper dental hygiene.Many children do not brush their teeth properly.If addressed at an early age, many future problems can be prevented.Parental help in developing good hygiene in children is crucial.Another important issue is diagnosis of crowding or orthodontic problems in children.These can be diagnosed as early as age 7.most of the time the early diagnosis can help prevent problems from forming at an older age.One example is intercepitive orthodontics.If used at early age,simple appliances such as palatal expanders can prevent unneccessary extractions of permanant teeth in later years.