Your child’s first visit, start to finish.

When to come the first time

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends a first dental visit by age one, or within six months of the first tooth coming in. That sounds early, and it is meant to be. A one-year-old rarely needs treatment. What that visit buys you is a baseline, a specialist’s read on how the teeth are coming in, and a child who learns that a dental chair is an ordinary place to sit.

If your child is four, or seven, or eleven and has never been seen, that is fine too. Start where you are. The visit is built the same way.

Before you come

Two things make the day easier: handling the paperwork and the insurance ahead of time, and setting expectations at home.

What to bring

• Your dental insurance card, or the plan name and member ID
• A list of any medications your child takes and any allergies
• Records or X-rays from a previous dentist, if your child has seen one
• Your pediatrician’s name, in case we need to coordinate
• Anything that helps your child settle — a comfort object, headphones, a favorite toy

How to talk about it at home

Keep it short and matter-of-fact. “The dentist is going to count your teeth” is enough. It helps to avoid words like hurt, shot, or drill, even when you are reassuring your child that none of it will happen — children tend to keep the scary word and lose the not. Skip the promise that nothing will happen, too, in case something does. We would rather build trust than protect a promise.

What happens at the visit

1. Check in

   You will meet the same front desk that answered your call. If we verified your benefits ahead of time, there is nothing to work out at the window.

2. Meet Dr. Katy before anything happens

   Dr. Katy introduces herself to your child first, at their level, before any instrument comes out. For infants and toddlers this is often a knee-to-knee exam, with your child lying back from your lap into hers so you stay face to face the whole time.

3. Counting teeth

   We use tell-show-do: your child hears what is about to happen, sees the instrument, then it is used. A first visit is frequently nothing more than a look at the teeth, gums, and bite. Cleaning and fluoride happen the same day when your child is comfortable with it, and wait for the next visit when they are not.

4. Time with you

   The part parents usually find most useful. Brushing technique for the age your child actually is, what to do about bottles, sippy cups, snacks, thumb-sucking, or a pacifier, and what we are watching as the jaw develops. If anything needs treatment, you get the plan and the cost before you leave, not later.

Parents stay in the room

Yes — for the entire visit, every visit. There is no separate treatment area you hand your child off to. For younger children and first visits, having you in the room is usually what makes it work.

If your child is anxious

Some children walk in fine. Some do not, and that is ordinary. We start slow, and a first appointment is often just a counting-teeth trip with no treatment at all — the point is to leave with a good experience banked.

When treatment is needed and a child is anxious, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) is available. Sedation beyond nitrous is arranged case-by-case, after a conversation with you.

If a visit falls apart, we stop. Pushing a frightened four-year-old through a cleaning costs more in the long run than rescheduling does.

Children with special healthcare needs

Dr. Katy trained in the honors program for Pediatric Dentistry and Special Needs at NYU and completed a hospital-based residency at Jacobi Medical Center caring for medically complex children. In practice that means longer appointments, sensory-friendly pacing, visit planning for autistic children, and coordination with your child’s pediatrician and specialists when it is useful.

Tell us what works and what does not when you book. Lights, sound, texture, order of operations — if you already know your child’s triggers, we would rather plan around them than discover them.

Getting here

We are inside Modern Smiles at 10545 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606 — the same building as the adult practice, with free parking on site. It is roughly ten minutes from Burbank, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and Valley Village.

The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. For a chipped tooth or a sudden toothache, call us — we hold same-day slots when we can, and give straightforward guidance over the phone when we cannot.