Fun is the most important aspect of your child's first dental appointment. They will enjoy exploring a new environment and discovering exciting facts about their own mouths. A visit to our surgery can be entertaining and enjoyable, and parents can enhance this enjoyment by encouraging their child.

Dentistry has changed a great deal in the last twenty-five or thirty years. Children can now expect to keep all their teeth healthy for the rest of their lives. Most dental diseases are now avoidable; this does depend on excellent supervised mouth care at home and regular visits to the dentist who can identify and even reverse early cavities, monitor the growth and development of the face, and advise on prevention and diet.

Ideally your child should first visit us when very young - even as young as one or two years old - and long before there could be any necessity for treatment. This allows plenty of time for him or her to gain confidence and feel completely at ease in the surgery. It also gives us, the dentist and hygienist, the opportunity to ensure that the child starts life with every possible dental advantage.

Over the first few visits your child will be introduced to examination gloves, masks, the mouth mirror, the tooth pointer, the tasty pink mouthwash, the special dishwasher for sterilizing instruments (autoclave) and much more, until he or she is familiar with everything in the surgery. If at a later date there is a need for dental treatment, the child will accept it willingly, as by then he or she will feel "at home" in the surgery.

These first appointments take approximately one hour and are the ideal time for mum or dad to find out more about the best diet for the long-term health of their child's teeth, and to obtain accurate advice regarding fluoride supplements and mouth-care at home.