Restoring your child's primary teeth | Dental Treatment Guide

Primary teeth are more commonly known as milk teeth. These are the temporary teeth that make up a great proportion of your child's mouth until they are between 6 and 12 years old. As these teeth a temporary, many parents do not see why is it important to replace primary teeth. However, these teeth are important for your child's oral health both now and for in the future. Not only is it more aesthetically pleasing to have a tooth filled smile but the primary teeth also allow your child to chew and speak properly. A key feature of primary teeth is also to ensure that permanent teeth protrude through the gums in the correct place.

Why should milk teeth undergo dental restoration?

Dental restoration is the procedure by which decayed or damaged teeth are carefully repaired back to a healthy state. Many refer to dental restorations as fillings as they involve synthetic material being positioned in or around the tooth the allow it to return to it normal condition.

There are a number of reasons, which would make tooth restoration of primary teeth necessary. Primarily, if your child's primary teeth are suffering from decay then the teeth affected should be restored in order to stop the decay from spreading to other teeth. If decay is left to spread around the mouth, it can subsequently lead to your child losing their teeth earlier than they should be.

Primary teeth are vital to ensure that permanent teeth can grow into the mouth properly; therefore it is vital that they are in good health. Naturally, the primary teeth should reside in the mouth until permanent, "adult" teeth protrude through the gums and force the primary tooth out. If this primary tooth is lost before this point, the teeth on either side of the space can invade and cause crowding issues.

Methods of restoring primary teeth

As long as the tooth decay is detected relatively early then the restoration procedure can be as simple as just a normal filling. The most durable of these fillings are silver fillings, which are also known as amalgam fillings. These fillings are inserted into cavities where it hardens and subsequently replaces missing dental matter.

Another type of filling is a white filling. These are more attractive than amalgam fillings, however, they are harder to position in primary teeth. White fillings require the mouth environment to be free of moisture, which is rare in children. A more popular treatment used in tooth restoration in children is the application of plastic dental crowns. These can be placed and fixed onto the front teeth if they have undergone significant decay.

Crowns can also be used on back teeth if they are badly decays. Alternatively in such a case, a stainless steel cap can be applied. These treatments are readily made and are designed to prevent any further decay. One aspect of this type of tooth restoration that makes is advantageous for children is that it only require one appointment with the dentist.