Coordinating the dental care of an entire family can feel like a juggling act. How do you keep up with all of the appointments and timelines? How do you get the adult members of your family to schedule their dental appointments once everyone is old enough to do that on their own? What can you do now to ensure that your young children keep up with their routine dental care once they are adults? It can feel overwhelming but there are some practical steps you can take to keep the entire family on track when it comes to dental care.

How do you keep up with all of the appointments and timelines for multiple family members?

It can be difficult logistically to keep up with the dental needs of multiple family members. If there are two adults in your family and three kids, for example, there are ten different preventative dental appointments to keep up with each year. If any of your family members have issues that need to be addressed, that number of appointments can increase significantly. A simple way to keep up with all of the appointments and timelines for your entire family is by setting everyone up at the same dentist. Some families choose to have a separate dentist for the adults and the children. There are also times when the adults in the family have different dentists for various reasons. You can streamline the dental care needs of your family by finding a dentist who can treat everyone. With one family dentist, you have the option of scheduling appointments for multiple family members on the same day so you can knock out everyone’s routine appointment at once.

How do you get adult members of your family to schedule their dental appointments?

When your children are young, getting them routine dental care is under your control. Once your children become adults, however, they are the ones that have to set up those appointments. How do you get them to do that once they have control over the situation? One of the ways that you can encourage the adults in your family to schedule routine dental appointments is by recommending a dentist who offers online scheduling. Young adults are accustomed to handling many aspects of their life online and making a dental appointment is no different. You can also make a point to mention the times when you go to the dentist to provide a reminder for your adult child to do the same.

What can you do now to ensure your young children continue with routine dental care in adulthood?

If your children are still young, there are a few things you can do to make them more likely to follow through with routine dental care as adults. First, make routine dental care a priority when they are young. If you always get your children to their regular cleaning it will seem like the process is simply part of life. Second, make sure and set your kids up with a dentist that can take care of all their oral care needs. If you choose a dentist carefully, your children can continue with that dentist as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Third, be sure and set an example by taking good care of your own teeth and letting your kids see that it is a priority.

You cannot force the adult members of your family to get routine dental care. You can, however, take some steps to encourage them to get the preventative dental care they need. At Aristo Dental, we make it as simple as possible to schedule dental appointments so everyone has access to the care they need.