At Montshire Pediatric Dentistry we work with patients and parents on preventing the need for treatment intervention. Sometimes, even with the best home care and hygiene, restorative treatment is still necessary. Often there are other factors that contribute to tooth decay, or maybe a tooth is broken during a fall. If we do reach the point where a restoration is needed, we believe in presenting treatment options and communicating with both parent and patient to determine the best course of action.
“My goal is always prevention. But in those cases when tooth restoration is needed, there are a variety of options. Regardless of whether it is a filling, crown, or other procedure, I always invite parents to be involved in the process. By having the parent in the room and actively participating in making it a fun experience we avoid creating anxiety that can emerge in adulthood as dental phobia. I aim to make each restoration painless and as fun as possible.”
We often hear parents ask, “Why should we restore a baby tooth if it is just going to fall out anyway?” and that is a great question. Primary teeth, or baby teeth, serve an important role even though they are temporary. Our first set of teeth allow us to eat a full diet and get proper nutrition affecting our quality of life and healthy development. Additionally, baby teeth act as placeholders for incoming adult teeth. Finally, we want to avoid pain and abscess for our children - and restorations may be necessary to do so. For all of these reasons, we want to make every effort to keep those baby teeth until their job is done.
Cavities can cause pain and even infections for children; we obviously want to help avoid both for our patients. If we find the decay to be persistent, we may recommend a restoration to alleviate those concerns and prevent the need for a possible extraction down the road.
Restoring the baby tooth allows development to progress and the baby tooth can do its job and fall out naturally when it is time. If too much of the tooth structure needs to be removed because of decay, a crown may be necessary to protect the tooth from further damage.