Pediatric dentistry is the branch of dentistry in charge of treating children. The pediatric dentist is in charge of checking and treating children, as well as detecting possible abnormal teeth and jaw position, for letting then the orthodontist know.
The pediatric dentistry is the speciality that serves as an introduction for children into this world. For this reason, the dentist are specialists ready both for solving dental problems and explaining, treating and helping kids , which is essential so that children feel good and confortable in the dental office.
At Gross Dentistas we have a doctor specialised in treating children. Come and meet us
What is pediatric dentistry?
Types of Visits
There are three types of visits to the dentist depending on the circumstances:
The emergencies in pediatric dentistry comprise pain in the teeth which normally occur due to pulp problems (tooth nerve), trauma, bacterial or viral infections
A series of questions will be asked about the life and health of the child so that the dental treatment is performed in the safest waypossible.
Clinical examination
General, extra-oral and intra-oral clinical examination
Treatment plan
It is divided into steps and these are carried out in order of importance according to each patient and together with the elaboration of a cavity, gum problems and disorder in occlusion prevention program.
Furthermore, in the first visit, we meet the child and they get to know us, which will help them to be at ease and confortable, so that they will be happy to come to the next visit. For achieving this, the explanations are carried out with games, videos and songs. Everything is more fun this way.
The next visits will be planned depending on the needs and the problems of each child.
Everything will be without pain, avoiding to show them that fearsome needle for anesthesia that scares them so much and “numbing the tooth” in the funniest way possible.
Once all the teeth are “healed”, we will perform a follow-up plan to check everything is going well and that those little “bugs” don’t attack any more their teeth and so that the tooth fairy finds the teeth clean.
Don't wait any longer
Contact with doctor Concha Gross and tell her your case. We will advise you on the orthodontics that best suits you
Most common treatments
Hereafter we will show the most common treatments that are carried out for the dental health of children:
Fluoridation
This treatment consist of cleaning the surface of the teeth, removing the bacterial plaque and afterwards administrating fluoride that helps to the remineralisation of the teeth. Additionally, we reinforce the routine of oral higiene with the child so that they keep it at home.
Normally we perform the fluoridation in the first visits, as it is a simple treatment and we help the child to get used to the office and so they learn that at the dentist it can be fun too.
Frequent questions about fluoridation
After the eruption of the first permanent tooth, the fluoridation is carried out, although we can also clean before the baby teeth in a simpler way and teach the parents how to clean the teeth at home
It is recommended to do so every 6 months, since we will likewise carry out the dental check-ups and will control that everything is going fine.
In the clinic we will show you the proper brushing technique. We will go through it with the child and the parents and will tell you tricks so that brushing your teeth is more fun.
Care
The only thing you have to take into account is that the child can’t eat or drink anything in the next 20-30 min. to allow fluoride to take effect completely.
Fillings
This is a treatment carried out for removing cavities and for reconstructing the tooth to recover its aesthetics, occlusion and fuctionality.
Once the child is used to the pediatric dentist and to the office, the necessary fillings will be carried out, as it is much easier to treat them when the child is already accustomed and is confortable. Unless it is strictly necessary to carry out the filling in the first visit because the patient comes with pain, it is always preferable to wait to the following visits for performing more invasive treatments.
Frequent questions about fillings
It is very important to treat baby teeth, since cavities in children advance more quickly due to their size and porosity. It is easier for cavities in children to reach the nerve, which can result in greater problems in the future, such as pain and the impossibility of fixing them, which leads to the extraction of the tooth.
Each tooth has a certain lifespan and if we remove the tooth prematurely, the eruption of the permanent tooth is damaged, since the teeth aside tend to move and will not leave enough room for the permanent tooth to emerge. This would result in a need to wear braces to avoid teeth from moving.
No, it isn’t. The fillings of the baby teeth don’t harm the permanent teeth at all. These are totally independent, but a serious infection of a baby tooth can affect the formation of the adult tooth.
Care
If these have been carried out with anesthesia, it is advisable not to eat anything until the anesthesia wears off to prevent the patient from biting themselves, since they will have no feeling in that area.
Pulp treatments
This is the treatment of the primary teeth nerve. There are two main treatments:
Pulpotomy
Removal of the coronal pulp (nerve) leaving the root pulp intact.
Pulpectomy
Total removal of the pulp, both the coronal and root pulp.
Pulp treatments have priority over other treatments, since the child will probably come with pain or an infection that need to be treated as soon as possible.
Pulpotomies are carried out in a single session, as only a part of the nerve is removed. After this, the filling is performed to completely seal the tooth.
Pulpectomies are normally carried out in 2-3 sessions, depending on the degree of infection, since it is necessary to wash it with special products to get rid of all bacteria and prevent the infection from appearing again.
Frequent questions about pulp treatments
It depends on the nerve injury.
If the child has already an infection, a pulpectomy will be carried out, since the nerve is already completely affected.
No, they don’t. As mentioned before, these treatments will not lead to any problem in the permanent teeth, they are independent
Care
As well as for the fillings, patients should be careful not to bite themselves due to the effect of anesthesia. Also, if a temporary material has been placed as a filling between sessions, eating chewing gum or sticky food should be avoided to prevent the temporary filling from falling off. Still if the filling falls out, this can be easily replaced.
Trauma
The treatment will depend on the type of damage. The most important thing is to visit your odontologist as soon as you can or to phone them so that they can tell you the procedure to follow. Unfortunately, trauma happen very often to children, since it is very common to fall down playing at home or at school, or to get hit with a ball or any object that can damage the teeth.
Trauma will always be treated first, since it is an emergency visit, which has to be treated as soon as possible.
We can differentiate among various types of trauma depending on the severity of the same and which will need different treatments: tooth avulsion (losing completely the baby or the primary tooth), movement or fracture. In any case, the trauma will need to be examined by a pediatric dentist and they will weigh whether the tooth can be replanted or the facture can be repaired (which can be in the crown or in the root).
Every trauma and its consequent treatment will have a degree of success depending not only on the severity of the case, but also on the time needed for carrying out the treatment.
Frequent questions about trauma
Probably, even if they don’t remember it, the child may have got hit long time ago, causing damage to their nerve, which has little by little been dying leading to an infection that comes out like that little pimple. In such cases, a pulpectomy is necessary.
(It may also be due to a large cavity that is affecting the tooth nerve and it’s causing it)
Baby teeth are as important as permanent teeth. If a baby tooth is knocked out prematurely, a visit to the dentist is advisable to check whether it is necessary for the child to wear braces to prevent the rest of the teeth from moving and thus, the adult tooth will have no problems to emerge
Care
After any trauma, a check-up and evaluation by the dentist and subsequent control of the child are necessary, since it can happen that the tooth nerve is affected although it is not visible to the eye and this could cause problems in the future
Extractions
It consists of the extraction of the temporary or permanent tooth if necessary. Either because of the impossibility of reconstructing it, because its roots are not long enough for the tooth to be treated and conserved, or because this is the treatment planned by the pediatric dentist together with the orthodontist.
It will be carried out in one single visit, as quickly as possible and with no pain.
Frequent questions about extractions
Everything will depend on when the doctor expects the final tooth to come out. If we leave the space of the baby tooth for a long time, the teeth on the sides will occupy that space left. This could be a problem when the final tooth comes out, as there will be no longer any room for it. In these cases, it is very important to put a space maintainer. It is a very simple device. It is attached to one of the teeth next to the gap and helps to keep it as long as necessary. We will only have to take an impression of the mouth and then, the customised device is made in the laboratory. Without pain or discomfort for the child, the doctor will place it very quickly.
Care
After a tooth extraction, you have to take care to avoid bitting yourself and eating until the effect of anesthesia wears off.
It is advisable to take cold food that day. We recommend to eat some ice-cream —We all love ice-cream, don’t we?
The child will have to prepare and clean the tooth so that everything is ready when the tooth fairy comes,
whom we will let it know when the patient is ready and the tooth can be taken
FQA
The ideal scenario would be to bring them as soon as the baby tooth comes out in order to explain hygiene techniques to the parents. Like this, the child gets used to the office and meets our doctor. Thus, it will be easier to determine the treatments they may need in the future and also we can diagnose any abnormality early.
The best way to prevent possible problems is to attend check-ups at least once a year. However, it is better for children to attend these every 6 months, since their teeth are smaller and more porous, and thus cavities can spread faster.
Of course. Just like in adults, plaque usually accumulates on the teeth, which is harder and can’t be removed at home with a simple brushing. In the clinic, we will also administrate fluoride that helps to the remineralisation of the teeth, thus being stronger.
Lately it is quite common to find stains on the adult teeth or even enterily brownish adult teeth. This is due to a lack of minerals in the tooth. These teeth require periodic check-ups, since their structure is weaker and, therefore, easier to suffer from any pathology. Ideally, the child would come to the clinic for administrating fluoride and for periodic check-ups, so that we can make sure that the structure of the tooth does not suffer from any problems.
We recommend to convey a sense of tranquility to the child, letting them know that they won’t feel any pain and that everything is going to be over quickly. It is advisable not to suggest that they are going to be pricked in with a needle or to use the dentist as a threat when not behaving well.
It is better that it is the pediatric dentist who explains the steps to be taken, whether it is necessary to anesthetize or to apply any other treatment. She will explain everything through games and attending to the needs of every child.
Should you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
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