Age And Reason for the First Dental Visit of Children in Chennai City- A Survey

Abstract

According to The American Academy of Paediatrics and the American Academy of Paediatric Dentistry, a child's first dental visit should be during the child's first year of life for prevention of dental disease and to decrease the invasive restorative interventions. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the age and reason for the first dental visit of a child. A total of 100 children were examined in a cross-sectional study for the age of the child and the reason for their first visit to a dental clinic.A questionnaire was applied to the parents. From the study,it is observed that most of the first dental visit of a child is due to pain-which is 67%. Regarding the age of the first visit, about 58% of the participants responded that they had a consultation done for their child at age of 2-4years. Only 51% of parents consider primary teeth important for the eruption of secondary dentition. Thus, from the present study, it is evident that most of the child's first dental visit is due to pain from caries progression and the age at which they visit revolves around 2-5 years of age. Awareness of parents regarding dental check ups and treatment remains low.