Just like adults, children can end up with damaged primary or baby teeth that cause them a lot of pain. If your child is constantly suffering from pain and sensitivity in a particular tooth, you need to take your child into their dentist as soon as possible.
The Cause Of Your Child's Pain
Generally, pain and sensitivity focused around a particular tooth occurs when the pulp inside of your child's tooth becomes infected. This generally occurs as a result of either trauma to the mouth or because of tooth decay.
When this happens, the infection in your child's mouth needs to be dealt with right away in order to save your child's baby tooth. Even though it is only a baby tooth, it is still worth saving. Your child's baby teeth help guide their permanent teeth into the right place down the road.
An infection in the pulp of your child's tooth can be treated one of three ways:
Indirect Pulp Treatment
If the damage to your child's pulp is not that great, a dentist may be able to save their tooth through indirect pulp treatment. In order to do this, your dentist would have to remove the vast majority of the decay that is inside of your child's mouth. They would not remove the infected pulp though.
Instead, they would apply an antibiotic to the infected pulp after removing the decay from your child's tooth. Then, they would seal your child's tooth up again. Ideally, the antibiotic will kill the infection and the removal of the decay from your child's tooth will stop further infections from occurring.
Puplpotomy
A pulpotomy is basically a partial root canal. This method is used when only the upper part of your child's pulp is infected.
Your dentist would go in, remove the upper infected area of damaged pulp and disinfect your child's tooth. Then they would seal up your child's tooth. This method often works well in children who only have a very small and localized infection in their pulp.
Pulpectomy
A pulpectomy is very similar to a traditional root canal. All of the pulp tissue will be removed from your child's tooth. Then the canals inside of your child's tooth are cleaned, shaped, filled and sealed. They will be sealed using an inert material. Then a crown would be put in place on top of your child's tooth.
A pulpectomy is a little different from a traditional root canal because the sealant used is designed to be eventually broken down by your child's body. This modification from a traditional root canal is necessary so that the roots of your child's baby tooth will be absorbed when it is time for your child's permanent tooth to come in.
If your child is constantly complaining of tooth pain, you need to take them into their dentist for a check-up. The pulp inside of your child's tooth may be infected. If this is the case, action needs to be taken right away to preserve your child's tooth.
For more information, visit http://www.jpdentalgroup.com or a similar website.
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