Even with great oral care, your child may still get a cavity, or they may experience a cracked or damaged tooth due to an oral injury. If you’re looking for restorative dental care for kids in San Marino, Dr. Jessica Choi is here to help! As an experienced pediatric dentist, Dr. Choi can provide your child with the treatment they need to restore their smile and get them back to their normal, day-to-day routine. Learn more below, or schedule an appointment now!
If your child has a cavity, a filling is the best way to restore their smile quickly. Fillings are used to repair teeth that have been affected by tooth decay. Dr. Choi will clean and numb your child’s mouth, gently remove the damaged material with a dental drill, and replace it with a tooth-colored, composite filling.
The filling will replace the natural structure of your child’s tooth, and allow them to eat, speak, smile, and bite optimally. Getting early treatment with a filling will also prevent further tooth decay, and ensure that your child does not need root canal therapy or a dental crown. Through proactive dental visits, we’ll help you and your family avoid invasive, costly treatments.
If your child has a deep or severe cavity, we may recommend that they get a dental crown as they provide more protection and strength for damaged teeth. Similarly, dental crowns can also be used to treat cracked and broken teeth.
A crown consists of a false tooth, which is designed to fit perfectly over your child’s existing tooth structure after it has been trimmed. At San Marino Pediatric Dentistry, we offer zirconia crowns, which look and feel just like a real tooth!
Because crowns help cover up the remaining tooth structure, they’re the best option for treating teeth that have been seriously damaged. Not only will you be able to restore your child’s bite and smile, but the treated tooth is less likely to be damaged or affected by tooth decay in the future.
If you do not get a filling or a crown for your child’s decayed or broken tooth, your child’s tooth could become infected. This happens when the outer layers of tooth material wear down and are destroyed by oral bacteria or trauma to the tooth. The vulnerable pulp inside their tooth will be exposed and become infected.
If this happens, the infected tooth will cause your child a lot of pain and discomfort. Without proper treatment, it will eventually die and require extraction. To avoid this, root canal therapy is recommended.
In this treatment, Dr. Choi will create an opening in your child’s tooth, extract the damaged and decayed pulp and tooth material, then clean and sanitize the interior of the tooth. Then, the tooth is filled with an inert material to strengthen it, and Dr. Choi will apply a filling or crown to protect it from further damage.
.jpg)