You might not be thinking of a visit to the dentist when your toothless infant giggles and smiles at you. But a child’s oral health starts before their first tooth arrives. Our pediatric dentists at Precious 32 Dental can monitor your developing child's dental care from their earliest ages.
We focus on the oral health of your growing child and how it affects overall health. Our attention to regular evaluations, education, and treatment for both normal, healthy children and those with complex or special needs assures a healthy start to a lifetime of good oral hygiene. While we most commonly see cavities and gum inflammation (gingivitis), we also regularly treat impacted teeth, dental infections, and dental traumas.
What are the common pediatric dental treatments?
1. Oral prophylaxis- Cleaning and polishing
2. Fluoride therapy - Fluoride is topically applied on all sides of the teeth to protect them from dental cavities.For children at moderate caries risk, we recommend a professional fluoride treatment at least every six months. And children at high risk should receive fluoride treatment more frequently, every three to six months.
3. Pit and fissure sealants - Chewing surfaces of the teeth have pits and fissures which are more prone to cavities. These pits and fissures can be sealed with flowable tooth colored composite material called pit and fissure sealants which will protect the teeth against cavities.
4. Pulp therapy - when the innermost part of the tooth called pulp which contains nerves and blood vessels gets infected due to deep cavities or trauma, pulp therapy is recommended. Pulp therapy involves removing of the infected pulp tissue and filling the tooth with special medicament.
5. Stainless steel cap - These types of crowns are used to protect the tooth after pulp therapy, fracture, and extensive fillings.
6. Extractions - Extractions in children are recommended when teeth cannot be salvaged due to infection or fracture, before orthodontic treatment, overcrowding of teeth and when teeth growing behind other teeth.
7. Dental fillings - Tooth-colored fillings are used to restore the teeth with dental cavities
8. Space maintainers - These are the appliances which that hold the space for permanent teeth to erupt into place when milk teeth are lost because of cavities.
9. Habit breaking appliances - These are the type of orthodontic appliances used to stop the habits like lip biting, tongue thrusting, and thumb sucking.