Because of parents who understand dental needs, along with fluoride in water, children are getting fewer cavities today than they did a few years ago.
But when your child’s teeth do break or decay, we can use state-of-the-art methods to restore them, making a damaged tooth look and work just as good as new. At the same time, we will make the experience as comfortable—even fun—as we can for each child.
To protect your child’s smile from decay, contact our dental team today and schedule an appointment!
Prevent Decay
There are a few ways to prevent decay in your child’s smile, including:
Regular Dental Visits
Using our specialized dental instruments and techniques, we are able to remove built up plaque and tartar before it evolves to decay.
Proper Dental Hygiene
With brushing twice daily and flossing, you can minimize the amount of build up on your child’s teeth so when they go to the dentist there is a lower chance of decay.
Fluoride
This helps strengthen your child’s teeth and makes it harder for decay and infection to grow.
Since the buildup of plaque and tartar leads to infection and decay, your child may need to receive a filling to close up the cavities caused from decay. The techniques and products below are just some of the ones we use to restore teeth after they are damaged.
Our Restorative Treatments
At Loveland Pediatric Dentistry, we offer a variety of restorative treatments to ensure your child’s smile remains healthy and strong. From fillings and crowns to extractions and advanced laser dentistry, we have the expertise and technology to handle all your child’s dental needs with care and precision.
Dental Crowns
How do you fix a tooth that is too broken for a regular filling? Crowns are tooth caps that cover and strengthen a damaged or decayed tooth to protect it for many years.
- Traditional Crowns: Typical crowns for children are often silver-colored and create an eyesore for school and family photos. The flashy coloring makes it obvious that your child has a crown and not only affects their appearance but self-confidence ultimately hurting their quality of life.
- White Crowns: We offer white crowns for baby teeth. This allows for discreet treatment that improves appearance in addition to restoring their smile.
We use gentle and friendly techniques and terminology to help children receive crowns without fear. We offer a few choices of materials that can help make crowns unique to your child’s needs.
Extractions
Baby teeth should just fall out, right? But they don’t always come out when you want them to. Sometimes, they can even cause pain because they are infected or got bumped during play.
- Infection: If a baby tooth is infected, that bacteria can spread throughout the mouth or to the permanent tooth under it. We can quickly pull it out to prevent that.
- Crowding: Sometimes baby teeth don’t fall out on time and can cause crowding issues for incoming adult teeth.
- Trauma: Teeth that have been severely damaged due to an accident may need to be extracted to prevent further complications.
- Orthodontic Reasons: In some cases, teeth need to be removed to ensure proper alignment and spacing for orthodontic treatments.
Afterwards, we may put in a spacer that keeps your child’s smile in just the right shape until the permanent tooth grows in.
Questions About Adult Teeth?
When a tooth is extracted or falls out, eventually an adult tooth will replace it. You may notice that a new adult tooth may appear more yellow than their baby teeth or even compared to your adult teeth. This is because adult teeth naturally come in darker and more yellow since they have more dentin. This is the yellow layer of teeth below the enamel.
As more adult teeth appear, their smile may look unmatched and different shades due to the timing of each tooth. Do not fear, with proper dental care, your child’s adult teeth will lighten and will eventually lose their yellow coloring. Leading to a whiter and brighter smile in the future.
No-Drill Dentistry
This is a technique that uses silver diamine fluoride to stop a cavity that is in progress — without using a drill. We do not expect many children to want to sit still during a long drill procedure. That is why we use this faster and gentler treatment to get the effect we need to protect your child’s smile!
TOOTH-COLORED FILLINGS
After we treat a small cavity, we can restore the tooth with a tooth-colored filling, which is BPA-free and mercury-free. We will work to find the right color so that your child’s tooth will look natural and will not embarrass him or her at school.
Why Are Fillings and Crowns Important?
Fillings and crowns are some of the most common dental treatments because the majority of people will experience a cavity at least once in their life. This simple and easy treatment, protects your smile from further problems and pain.
- Preventing Spread of Infection: Untreated decay can lead to gum disease and, if left untreated, can enter the bloodstream.
- Protecting Overall Health: Even if an infected tooth falls out, the infection may have already reached the gums, continuing to affect the rest of their smile.
Fillings work by removing the infection or decay from the tooth and then fills the hole up to seal the site from further damage. Crowns are similar but are necessary for deeper and more intense decay. The dentist will remove the decay and infection and cover the tooth with a crown to ensure the tooth is protected and strengthened.
The Importance of Keeping Baby Teeth Healthy
Since children start losing their baby teeth around the age of 5 or 6, you may be wondering why you need to get a filling or crown if they are going to fall out soon enough. When it comes to tooth decay or cavities, the spread will continue if not treated.
- Safeguarding Gum Health: It eventually will go past the tooth and enter the gums causing gum disease and if that gets left untreated it will enter the bloodstream. Not only will a filling or crown protect your child from pain, inflammation, swelling, bleeding, and more, but it protects their smile and overall health for years to come.
- Preventing Future Teeth Problems: Even if an infected tooth falls out, the infection may have already reached the gums making the problem continue to the rest of their smile. Which is why fillings and crowns are so important for all smiles regardless of age.
If you think your child may have a cavity or is suffering from decay, contact our dental team today to schedule an appointment!
Tooth Pulp Treatment (Baby Root Canal)
If your child has a serious toothache, it may be caused by bacteria inside the root of the tooth. Even if it is in a baby tooth, it is still smart for us to clean the infected tissue out, save the walls of the tooth from damage, and relieve the pain in the nerve. It can be a few years before the adult tooth comes in.
A baby root canal treatment can keep the baby tooth healthy until then, which should guide the adult tooth to grow in the right way. This treatment will let your daughter or son smile and chew naturally again.
Contact Us For Restorative Pediatric Dentistry Services
At Loveland Pediatric Dentistry, we are excited to see your children at every stage of their development. We constantly study the latest restorative dentistry techniques, and we will be there to help them through tooth pain, cavities, and any other problems. Call today, tell us your needs, and let us protect your child’s smile for years to come.
