Your Child’s First Dental Visit and Baby Teeth

Written by Dr. Nick Jadidi, DDS — Last updated June 13, 2026 · 10-minute read

This article is general information for our patients, not a diagnosis. If something in your mouth hurts, changes, or worries you, have it examined.

New parents ask me the same handful of questions: when the first tooth will show up, whether teething is behind that fever, how much toothpaste, when to come in. Here’s the plain-language version, part of our Child Patient Information library.

One thing up front, because it shapes everything below. With small children, a single sign rarely settles anything on its own — a fever, a late tooth, a gap where one came out early. What I go on is the whole picture read together: your child’s history, what I see in the mouth, how things track against the usual pattern, and sometimes an X-ray. A clue that points one way alone can point elsewhere once the rest is in. So use this to know what’s normal and when to call — not to reach an answer at home.

When should my child first see a dentist?

Within six months of the first tooth appearing, or by the first birthday — whichever comes first. That’s the Canadian Dental Association’s position, and we follow it.

I know it feels early; there’s barely anything to look at, and that’s the point. An early visit isn’t about finding problems — it’s about heading them off, letting your child get used to the chair before anything ever needs doing, and giving you a chance to ask. We call that a “dental home”: a practice your child knows from the first tooth, so the dentist is part of normal life, not somewhere you only go when something hurts. Children who start early tend to be calmer patients later.

Why bother — aren’t baby teeth just going to fall out?

“They’ll fall out anyway” is the most common reason decay gets ignored, and it’s a costly mistake. Those 20 baby teeth (the primary teeth) do real work: they hold space and guide the adult teeth into position, shape the jaw, let your child chew a full diet, and matter for speech. And they can decay, hurt and become infected just like adult teeth. A neglected cavity can turn into a pocket of infection (an abscess) — and because the adult tooth is forming right underneath, a serious infection can affect how it develops. They aren’t disposable. We look after them.

When do baby teeth come in, and in what order?

Most babies get a first tooth between 6 and 10 months — usually a lower front one — and all 20 are usually in by two-and-a-half to three years. The dates vary a lot.

A few months either side of these ages is completely normal — a tooth at four months, or a bare gum at the first birthday, can both be fine. I pay more attention to the order than the timing: teeth tend to arrive in a predictable pattern, in matching pairs (one on the left, then its partner on the right). A single late tooth rarely worries me on its own; a tooth that’s very late and out of sequence is worth a look — though what I’d weigh is that pattern alongside the exam, not the one tooth in isolation.

When do the adult teeth start coming through?

The first adult teeth usually arrive around age six — the lower front teeth and the first molars right at the back — and the rest follow into the teens. Baby teeth come out gradually over several years, not all at once.

The first adult molars are the ones parents miss: they come in behind the last baby molars at about six, so no baby tooth falls out to announce them. They’re a prime spot for a thin protective coating painted into the grooves (a sealant), ideally soon after the tooth comes through.

Wobbly baby teeth at this stage are normal and can usually be left to come out on their own.

Is teething making my baby sick?

Teething can cause sore gums, drooling, an urge to chew, and a few cranky days. What it does not cause — despite the folklore — is a high fever, vomiting or diarrhea, or a genuinely unwell baby. The distinction matters: writing a real illness off as teething can delay the care a child needs. So I treat those bigger symptoms as a clue pointing away from teething — if your baby is properly unwell, see your physician rather than assuming it’s the teeth. The quick comparison:

For comfort, keep it simple: a clean finger or a cool (not frozen) teething ring to chew, and a wipe for the drool. Skip teething gels with benzocaine or similar numbing ingredients — Health Canada has warned against them for babies and young children — and skip amber teething necklaces, which carry a choking and strangulation risk. Cold, pressure and a cuddle do the job.

What actually happens at the first visit?

Short and gentle — usually 20 to 30 minutes. We count and check the teeth (kids love the counting), look for early signs of decay, give a soft clean, and usually paint on a fluoride varnish: a quick coat that sets in seconds and helps strengthen the hard outer layer of the teeth (the enamel). For toddlers we often use a “knee-to-knee” exam — you and I sit facing each other and your child lies back into my lap, still able to see you and hold your hands throughout. We reapply the varnish at check-ups — typically every six months, and as often as every three months for children at higher risk of decay — and finish by going through brushing and feeding with you.

The other half of the job is making it fun: we go slow, use kid-friendly words, let an anxious child watch first and join in when ready, and never force or shame. A child who leaves smiling comes back happily. More on our approach to children’s cleanings, fillings and check-ups.

How much toothpaste should my child use, and when do we start?

Start the moment the first tooth appears, twice a day. Fluoride toothpaste is what makes brushing protective rather than just tidy — but the amount matters, because young children swallow rather than spit, and too much swallowed fluoride over the years can leave faint marks on the developing adult teeth.

A few practical points: brush the gum line and the chewing surfaces; have your child spit rather than rinse, so a little fluoride keeps working; and keep the tube out of reach so it isn’t eaten as a treat. Children don’t have the hand control to clean properly until around age seven, so your help is doing the real work even when they want to “do it myself.”

Can bottles and sippy cups cause cavities?

Yes — and it’s one of the most preventable problems I see. Early childhood decay (early childhood caries) is decay in the baby teeth of a child under six. It tends to show up first on the upper front teeth, because the lower front ones are partly shielded by the tongue and saliva. The cause is frequent, prolonged contact with sugary liquid — a bottle of milk, formula or juice taken to bed and sipped through the night, or a sippy cup of juice nursed all day. Each sip restarts an acid attack, and a sleeping mouth makes less protective saliva, so night feeds are especially hard on the teeth.

The fixes are straightforward:

• Nothing but water in the bedtime bottle.
• Move toward a regular open cup — or a lidded cup without a valve, so liquid flows freely rather than being sucked — from around the first birthday.
• Keep juice and sweet drinks to mealtimes, in a cup, and offer water between.
• Avoid sharing spoons or “cleaning” a soother in your own mouth — the bacteria that cause decay can pass from your mouth to your baby’s.

I’ve written separately about how cavities form and how we treat them.

Should I worry about thumb sucking?

Thumb and soother sucking is a normal way young children self-soothe, and in the early years it does no lasting harm; most give it up on their own. What I watch for is a strong habit that carries on past about age four, when the adult front teeth are getting ready to arrive around six. Sucking at that stage can push the upper front teeth forward, open a gap where the upper and lower front teeth no longer meet (an open bite), and narrow the upper jaw. Stop in time and the bite often improves on its own as the child grows.

If you’re helping your child stop, keep it gentle and positive — praise and rewards for dry-thumb days, not telling-off. If the habit is stubborn and the adult teeth are arriving, mention it at a check-up; sometimes a small device made for their mouth helps. Whether sucking has actually changed the bite isn’t something I’d judge from one look — I cover the options in how braces and orthodontics work for children.

What if a baby tooth comes out too early?

This is exactly why we try to save baby teeth rather than pull them — each one holds a parking spot for the adult tooth beneath it. Lose a back baby tooth years before its replacement is due, and the neighbours tend to tip and slide into the gap, leaving the adult tooth short of room: it can come in crowded, or get stuck under the gum. Toddlers fall, and a knocked-out or badly damaged baby tooth is a common cause — if that happens, here’s what to do when a toddler knocks or chips a tooth.

We may fit a space maintainer — a small, comfortable device (often a band on one tooth with a wire loop resting against the next) that holds the gap until the adult tooth is ready. But not every early loss needs one; whether it does depends on which tooth was lost, your child’s age, and how soon the adult tooth is due — a case-by-case call we make after a proper look and, often, an X-ray read together, never from the gap alone.

Ready to bring your little one in?

If your child has a first tooth, or is coming up to a first birthday, that’s the right time to book. And if it’s been a while, there’s no judgement here — just a fresh start. We keep first visits short, gentle and friendly so your child builds a good first impression of the dentist. Call 705-721-9229 or book an appointment online, and we’ll take it from there.