Restorative Pediatric Care Helping Your Child’s Smile Stay Healthy
Restorative options for baby teeth become necessary when there’s an active cavity present. Hearing “Your child has a cavity” can be pretty frightening for most parents. But here’s the thing you really don’t have to panic. Not every decayed tooth needs removal or a root canal. The depth of the cavity and what symptoms your child’s experiencing play a huge role in deciding what’s genuinely the best option for your little one.
Silver Diamine Fluoride
This is a minimally invasive option in restorative pediatric dentistry, especially great for uncooperative children to stop cavities from spreading further. It usually leaves a black stain after application, but it ensures bacterial growth gets restricted. It’s not the prettiest solution, but it works when other options aren’t feasible.
Tooth Colored Fillings
If your child has a cavity, we might recommend a tooth colored filling depending on exactly where the tooth is located and how large that cavity actually is. Tooth colored fillings are usually resin based fillings, which work perfectly for small to medium sized cavities. They can totally withstand the normal chewing and biting forces your child’s teeth experience daily. These are a common part of pediatric dental care and look natural too.
Root Canal treatment (Pulpectomy)
When a cavity digs deeper into the roots, a root canal treatment gets advised. In baby teeth this is also called Pulpectomy it’s a key procedure in restorative pediatric dentistry. Removing cavity from the depth of its spread limits any nasty infection being transferred to the new permanent teeth forming below. When the baby teeth have a long time before they fall out on their own, this would be considered the ideal treatment option. After doing a root canal, there’s usually a crown advised to help your child use the tooth normally without any issues.
Zirconia crowns
Zirconia crowns are tooth colored crowns that get used on root canal treated teeth, teeth with large cavities, fractured front teeth, or as an aesthetic restoration. They’re widely preferred for their aesthetic look, almost masking the tooth with a completely natural finish. These pediatric crowns can be used on both front teeth and back teeth. The crowns are pre-fabricated and can be placed in a single sitting, which is super convenient.
When the tooth naturally exfoliates, the crown falls out on its own and requires absolutely no special removal. Pretty neat, right?
Stainless Steel Metal crowns
Metal crowns or stainless steel crowns are advised after a root canal in most cases as part of restorative pediatric dentistry. They’re also used for restorative purposes where a root canal might not be required but a regular filling simply cannot be done. These pediatric crowns are pre-fabricated unlike adult teeth, so the time duration for placement can be done in a single sitting. When placed on a primary tooth, they fall out on their own when the tooth exfoliates naturally.
Extractions
Extractions are usually the absolute least preferred option of treatment unless it’s considered absolutely necessary in pediatric dental care. Extraction means removal of the teeth from the jaws. They’re done when the tooth in question is completely damaged and beyond any repair. If a tooth has had an abscess with roots resorbed or if there’s been a trauma—these are our most common reasons to remove any teeth. The procedure is usually done using laughing gas with local anesthesia as an adjunct, if necessary. At the Best Pediatric Dental Clinic, we make sure kids feel comfortable during the process.
Space Maintainers
If a tooth gets extracted or removed for some unfortunate reasons prior to its natural time of exfoliation, it leaves a gap there which could seriously affect the function or aesthetics for your child. The space here gets restored or maintained using space maintainers—an important aspect of restorative pediatric dentistry. Primary (baby) teeth are really important for holding space for the un-erupted permanent tooth waiting below. When a primary molar tooth gets lost prematurely, the neighboring teeth may tip or drift into that space, leaving little or no space for the permanent tooth to erupt properly. There are several different types of space maintainers, and they’re custom made to fit your child’s mouth perfectly.
Scaling
Scaling, or oral prophylaxis, is considered more as a treatment for restoring gums and teeth into their healthy form it’s crucial pediatric dental care. Scaling gets advised when there’s a presence of calculus, poor oral hygiene, and poor gum health associated with presence of plaque. Poor gum health genuinely affects the overall health of the teeth and jaws and also stands as a direct cause for formation of cavities.
If you’re looking for comprehensive restorative pediatric dentistry services, the Best Pediatric Dentistry in India offers all these treatment options with child-friendly approaches that make dental visits less scary and more comfortable for your little ones.