Cavity has developed in your child’s baby teeth. Now you may be wondering, they’re just baby teeth, and permanent teeth will replace them anyway, so do I really need to fix them? The short answer is, yes you do, although not always.
If a cavity develops in a baby tooth, it will only get bigger and deeper with time. If the tooth is loose and close to falling out, your dentist has the option to just leave it alone. However, if the baby teeth is still secure in its place, it needs to be protected. If the cavity is left untreated, the child could potentially suffer from toothaches, infection, misaligned teeth, and extensive dental work in the future.
When baby teeth is damaged by decay, family dentists in Greenville will likely recommend a tooth filling. However, if the decay is serious, the dentist may recommend a crown instead. If the tooth is in the back, a silver crown may be used to make the teeth stronger and applicable to grinding food.
When it comes to crowns for baby teeth, you have a few options, each of which has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Silver or stainless crowns are strong and durable, but they don’t look good on a child, that’s why they are often used for back teeth.
Another option is ‘strip’ crown, which is basically a type of mold that is filled with white material and pressed onto the tooth to form a cap. Once the filling hardens, the mold is removed, leaving the white filling attached to the tooth. Strip crown is the most natural looking crown for baby teeth, but it is also the most fragile.
The popular porcelain crowns used on adults are only advisable for older kids, because the teeth in pre-schoolers are simply too small for them.
Baby teeth exist for a reason–they give the child the facilities he or she needs to chew food. Likewise, they prepare the jaw and gums for the permanent teeth. If they are lost too early, teeth crowding can occur along with other problems, which can be more difficult to correct. That’s why it makes sense to fix a baby tooth with a dental crown that to simply remove it.
If you want to explore treatment options for your child’s damaged baby teeth, feel free to schedule a consultation with family dental and wisdom teeth removal professionals in Greenville, SC, such as Downtown Dental.
Sources:
Dental Crowns, WebMD
What are the different types of crowns?, Animated-Teeth.com
