Children have a set of 20 baby teeth. Adults have 32.
First, your child’s pediatric dentist will need to perform a comprehensive visual exam. X-rays will be taken and used to assess your child’s oral health and determine the extent of the issue.
Once an accurate diagnosis is made, your child’s dentist will recommend a treatment plan to address the issues.
Your child’s dentist may provide a few options for treatment, discuss the pros and cons of each, and explain their top choice to resolve the issue.
The doctor will discuss sedation options for your child if they feel sedation is necessary, or if it will make the child more comfortable during their treatment. These treatments can help your child feel a lot less nervous and anxious about their appointment, and get the restorative care they need.
After you and the dentist have decided on the right treatment for your child, you’ll schedule a follow-up. In some cases, treatment may begin immediately, but you’ll usually have to schedule a separate appointment for restorative care unless your child has a serious dental emergency.
Composite fillings are made of a dental resin and are matched to the color of your child’s tooth. Unlike metal fillings, they do not contain any mercury. In addition, composite fillings require the removal of less enamel during tooth preparation and have a very tight hold, so they help keep your child’s tooth healthy and strong.
Pediatric dental crowns are typically recommended for kids who have large cavities, or who have a tooth that has been damaged or broken by dental trauma. Your dentist will clean and prepare their tooth, and then choose a pre-fitted dental crown that can be placed directly over the damaged tooth structure to cover and protect it, restoring your child’s smile and bite.
If your child loses a baby tooth before they’re supposed to, their dentist may recommend a “space maintainer.” This dental prosthetic fits in the gap where the tooth used to be, preventing the other teeth from shifting and ensuring your child’s permanent or adult tooth erupts properly.
Pulpotomies, also called a “baby root canal,” this treatment is used to restore infected baby teeth. Your child’s dentist will clean the tooth, create an opening in the tooth structure, and extract decayed pulp from the inside of the tooth. Next, a healing dressing is applied, and the tooth is cleaned and sealed with a crown or filling. The dressing helps the remaining tooth pulp heal, ensuring your child’s baby tooth can recover from infection.
Extractions are typically a last-resort option for pediatric dentists. But occasionally, a tooth may simply be too damaged to save, and extraction may be the best way for your child to get relief from pain and discomfort. Using special tools and sedation, your child’s dentist can extract troublesome teeth quickly and without pain or discomfort.
Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) sedation is often recommended for kids who may be nervous about a dental appointment. IV sedation is a method of deep sedation that’s delivered directly to the vein to ensure that they can sleep through their appointment.
Tooth enamel is the hardest structure in the human body; even harder than the femur bone!
Restorative dentistry is used to treat damaged or decayed teeth. This includes cavities and infections, as well as teeth that have been chipped, broken, loosened, or knocked-out prematurely due to oral trauma. Restorative treatments can also help prevent oral development issues after tooth loss, and resolve other oral health problems like tongue and lip ties.
Baby teeth are essential to your child’s ability to eat and chew properly as they grow up. And, even though they do fall out naturally as your child ages, premature baby tooth loss can cause oral development issues. This is because your child’s adult teeth follow the “paths” provided by their baby teeth when they begin to erupt. If your child loses one or more baby teeth too early, their permanent teeth may not emerge properly, leading to developmental issues that may require orthodontic intervention in the future.
Our dentists are experts in working with kids of all ages, and use a patient, kind, and informative approach to children’s dentistry that will help keep your child feeling safe and calm throughout their appointments. Beyond this, we also offer a variety of sedation methods that can help your child feel more comfortable during their treatment.
In most cases, treatments for children like pulpotomies, extractions, crowns, and fillings are covered in some capacity by insurance. However, each plan is different and has different coverage, deductibles, and yearly maximums. Consult with your insurer and your dentist to learn more and ensure that your child’s procedures are covered.
Most baby or primary teeth will have fallen out by the age of 12.
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