Filling Children’s Teeth (Part IV)

Filling cavities in baby teeth can be very important.  Many people think that just because the baby teeth fall out eventually, you don’t need to be concerned about caring for them.  Baby teeth are important to keep space open for the permanent teeth.  If a baby tooth is lost too early, the teeth will crowd up making any subsequent orthodontics much more difficult.  And if a cavity gets too deep, the tooth could abscess which can cause a lot of pain, not to mention the chance of serious infection.  One of the worst parts of my job as a dentist is seeing a child writhing in pain with a toothache only to find out that this is their first trip to the dentist.  It’s not too hard to imagine how much they will look forward their next trip to the dentist.  It is also very hard to get profound numbness on an abscessed tooth which makes the experience that much worse.  By pre-planning and catching things early, teeth can be filled painlessly on children.