The short answer
First visit: within 6 months of the first tooth, or by age one. Expect a lap exam, lots of parent coaching and zero pressure. Keep your language casual and positive, skip the words hurt, needle, drill, and let our team introduce everything at your child's pace.
Why So Early?
Because baby teeth decay fast — enamel on primary teeth is thinner than yours — and because "early childhood caries" (bottle decay) can damage a smile before age two. Just as importantly: a child who meets the dentist through play, years before anything needs fixing, becomes a kid who hops into the chair. The first visit is an investment in every visit after it.
Baby teeth themselves matter more than their temporary reputation suggests: they hold space for adult teeth, guide jaw growth, and matter for speech and eating. Why baby teeth matter →
What Actually Happens at Visit One
For babies and young toddlers, it's a knee-to-knee exam: you and the dentist sit facing each other, your little one lies back on your lap, and we count teeth, check gums and look for early trouble — about as invasive as a diaper change and considerably faster. Older toddlers might ride the chair up and down ("the elevator"), meet Mr. Thirsty the suction straw, and get their teeth "tickled."
Then it's mostly coaching for you: brushing technique for uncooperative mouths, fluoride guidance, bottle/sippy/nighttime-feeding habits, teething, soothers and thumbs. Short, friendly, useful.
At our office there's a bonus: Dr. Julie Maniate is a board-certified pediatric specialist — hospital-trained at SickKids and Yale — so even complex situations (early decay, dental trauma, special healthcare needs, extreme anxiety) are handled in the same friendly room. About our pediatric specialty care →
How to Prepare (and What to Avoid)
Do:
- Keep it casual: "The dentist is going to count your teeth!" is a complete briefing
- Read a happy dentist-visit picture book in the days before
- Book their best time of day (rested and fed beats nap-adjacent)
- Play "dentist" at home — count teddy's teeth
- Complete our Children's First Visit form so we know their name-they-like, their loves (dinosaurs? Bluey?) and their temperament before you arrive
Don't:
- Use the words hurt, needle, drill, shot — even in reassurance ("it won't hurt!" plants the idea)
- Bribe in advance ("if you're brave...") — it signals something scary is coming
- Pass on your own dental anxiety — if that's a risk, the calmer parent takes this one
- Threaten dentist visits as consequences for candy, ever
If the Visit Goes Sideways
Sometimes a toddler simply isn't having it — and that's fine. We never force; a "failed" first visit that ends with a sticker and a wave is still a win, because visit two starts from familiarity. Pediatric behaviour guidance is literally Dr. Maniate's specialty; pace is the tool, not pressure.
Ready for the milestone? Book their first visit or call (613) 491-3300 — a parent or guardian accompanies all children, and we genuinely love meeting babies.