A pulpotomy is performed on a tooth where the infection is concentrated in the crown. However, if the infection has spread to the root, a root canal will be necessary.
We will examine your child’s teeth and take digital scans to look for signs of tooth decay or infection so we can determine the severity of the damage.
Once we understand the source of your child’s pain, discomfort, or damage, we will formulate a treatment plan that can repair these problems as soon as possible in a minimally invasive manner.
Since there are usually multiple options to explore when it comes to restorative dentistry, we will walk you through all of the possible ways that we can treat your child’s teeth and help you decide which would work best for your goals, budget, and schedule.
We will always administer local anesthesia before using any invasive tools so that your child doesn’t feel any pain. If they have dental anxiety or special needs, we can also offer them laughing gas or IV sedation.
Unless this is a dental emergency, we will schedule your appointment for the next available time slot that works for you. Your child may only require a single appointment or may require multiple depending on the treatment. Emergencies will be treated promptly.
A filling is a material that is used to fill out the missing structure from your tooth, usually in response to tooth decay or dental trauma. After removing any tooth decay, the tooth is then built back up using silver amalgam or composite fillings.
Composite resin is a tooth-colored filling that has better aesthetic properties. However, because this filling is much less durable, we don’t recommend these fillings be placed in the rear teeth or baby teeth.
A better option would be amalgam fillings, which are stronger and more durable, though they have a silver appearance. This is unnoticeable in the rear teeth and only temporary in baby teeth, as these teeth will fall out on their own.
A root canal is a restorative procedure performed on infected or damaged teeth. This procedure is 95% effective at restoring a tooth to health and preventing the need for extraction. When the dental pulp becomes infected, it needs to be removed.
This is the center layer of the tooth, where it is connected to blood vessels and nerves. The pulp, including the roots, is completely removed and the canals are thoroughly cleaned before filling the inside of the tooth with a permanent material known as gutta-percha. A permanent filling closes the hole and a dental crown is placed on top of the rear molars.
We offer pediatric crowns that will protect your child’s teeth from damage and reinforce their strength and durability so that you don’t have to worry about their teeth becoming more damaged.
Crowns are used to protect teeth that have been chipped, cracked, broken, weakened, or which have large fillings. Crowns can be made of stainless steel for superior strength and durability or from zirconia which is more aesthetically pleasing.
Losing a tooth results in irreversible bone loss that will increase your child’s risk of future tooth loss.
Yes, children need to have cavities filled, whether the tooth is a baby tooth or a permanent tooth. Many parents mistakenly believe those baby teeth are less important to a child’s oral health because they naturally fall out. However, this is wrong for several reasons.
Firstly, your child’s teeth play a functional role in helping them chew their food, maintain an aesthetic smile, and pronounce sounds. Without a tooth, all of these tasks become more difficult.
If your child’s tooth is lost prematurely, they can deal with speech difficulties or insecurity from gaps in their smile. More importantly, however, your child’s tooth maintains space in the mouth so that the permanent tooth knows where to erupt.
When a tooth is lost too soon, the surrounding teeth will shift which can cause orthodontic problems. Worst of all, teeth can lean into the space where the old baby tooth used to be and block the eruption of the permanent tooth.
If a deciduous (baby) tooth is lost too early, it can be years before the permanent tooth will erupt, which increases the risk of dealing with orthodontic problems, impaction, and difficulty chewing and speaking.
A permanent tooth can become impacted behind the gums if a space maintainer isn’t placed to hold the space open for it to come through when it’s due to erupt.
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