Restorative Dentistry
Several factors affect the performance, durability, longevity and expense of dental restorations, including:
- The components used in the filling material
- The amount of tooth structure remaining
- Where and how the filling is placed
- The chewing load that the tooth will have to bear
- The length and number of visits needed to prepare and adjust the restored tooth
Before your child’s treatment begins, we will discuss options for treatment and will help you choose the best option for your child.
Fillings
Our office is happy to provide tooth coloured fillings that look and feel like natural teeth. Filling material, often called composite resins or resin-modified glass ionomer, may be used on front teeth where a natural appearance is important, as well as, on the back teeth depending on the location and extent of the tooth decay. Sometimes, if a cavity is too large for a filling, a crown may be recommended.
Stainless Steel Crowns
Crowns provide a full-coverage “helmet” used to strengthen and protect the tooth by covering up all surfaces of that tooth. Crowns are “cemented” onto an existing tooth and fully cover the portion of your tooth above the gum line. In effect, the crown becomes the tooth’s new outer surface.
Pulp Therapy
The nerve or pulp is found at the very center of every single tooth. The main goal of pulpal therapy is to save a tooth that has or will become infected. Even though baby teeth eventually leave the mouth, this therapy allows children to keep their baby teeth as long as possible to be able to eat properly and help guide the adult teeth into place. There are two different types of pulpal therapy. The first type is a pulpotomy. This is when the nerve in the root of the tooth is healthy but the nerve in the top portion of the tooth is not. The second type is a pulpectomy. This treatment is indicated when the entire pulp is infected. The amount and location of the pulp damage will determine the extent of the treatment required.
Extractions
Sometimes it may be necessary to remove a tooth if the decay puts the surrounding teeth and jaw at risk or to make room for a permanent tooth. If it is determined that your child’s tooth needs to be removed, a space maintainer may be indicated to hold the space for the permanent teeth to move into.
THE DAY AFTER YOUR CHILD’S EXTRACTION:
- No drinking with straws
- No vigorous rinsing or spitting
- A soft diet is recommended
- If your child experiences swelling, apply a cold cloth or an ice bag and call our office
Mahogany Pediatric Dentistry
Address:
Suite 210, 3 Mahogany Row SE
Calgary, AB T3M 2T6
Phone: 587-794-3326
Fax: 587-794-3327