We started taking our daughter with us to our dentist appointments when she was about 2 years old. The first time, they just did a quick check to look in her mouth just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong. The second time we took her she had an "official" appointment and got her teeth cleaned. She sat pretty still on my lap while the dentist did the work. I think it helped that she had already been to the dentist before and saw the same work done on "Mommy and Daddy" before she had it done to herself.

If you need help getting her to brush her teeth, you could try having a brushing teeth time, where everyone in the family brushes their teeth together. Our daughter seemed to want to start brushing her teeth at a fairly young age because she say us doing it all the time. You could also check out this answer on using Chuck E. Cheese charts for rewarding her for brushing her teeth.

I took my daughter for the first time when she was 3. I asked the dentist about it when she was 1 and was told to wait until she was 3 or could keep her mouth open on command.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry suggests when your baby's first tooth comes in or, at the latest, one year. (I'm curious in other answers as this recommendation seems like it could be a little self-serving to me.)

I was told by my dentist and our family doctor that it wasn't necessary until the age of 4.

I think introducing children to the idea of Dentists is important so they are familiar with the concept but I think that 13 months is a bit young for an actual visit. I would suggest you continue trying to make the "brushing teeth" activity as fun as possible, by doing it while she is having a bath or looking in the mirror and so fourth.

We took our daughter with us during our own appointments, she was around 2 and just about able to understand what was going on.

Our own dentist advised us to start "introductory visits" to the dentist at 4. During our first official visit the dentist spent an equal amount of time examining her teeth, and then talking with her about how she holds her toothbrush and how she brushes her teeth.

We were told that between the ages of 4 & 5, the dentist would be able to see whether our daughter had any irregularities while opening or closing her jaw, and would advise whether any ortodontic treatment would be needed.

We've always taken our children with us to the dentist, and as soon as they had any teeth the dentist took a look -- although often they wouldn't open their mouth.

Dentistry is free in the UK for children, so we might as well get them registered and used to the idea of regular visits. I understand that in other countries, where you have to pay, the decision might not be so easy -- especially if the dentist might not even get to see the teeth of a stubborn child.

Having a ride in the fancy chair is something to look forward to, though!

We just started to brush teeth together to develop the habit and keep her temporary teeth clean and smelling good. She is two and only has four teeth, so we aren't going to the dentist for a while.

It's a great question for your pediatrician, who should be the overall coordinator and adviser of your child's health issues anyway.

From what I've heard, opinions seem about equally divided between "as soon as they have teeth" and "around 2.5-3 years old." Ours doc into the latter category, we were very careful about tooth brushing (and we're not a household with sweets around anyway), so when he saw our son everything was perfect, the boy was old enough to be interested in what was going on and not fight it.

Note that the AAP recommends "as soon as they have teeth", so there's probably nothing wrong with that approach either. I think the only wrong answer is to wait significantly longer than 3 years.

My wife took our son to the dentist with her from the very beginning. The dentist did the usual check-up of my wife's teeth, and looked into Robin's mouth as well. You can never start to early.