When Does A Child Need A Tooth Extraction?
Often, we provide restorative treatments designed to help protect and preserve your child’s teeth. For example, fillings to stop tooth decay, or a pulpotomy to prevent tooth loss due to infection. But in some cases, removing a tooth may be needed to help improve oral health. In today’s blog, your Dallas, TX, pediatric dentist talks about tooth extraction for little smiles.
The Situations That Require Tooth Extraction
When a tooth is too decayed, infected, or damaged to be treated with a crown, leaving it in place could allow infection to reach other teeth or move into the jawbone itself. To protect your child’s smile from these major oral health complications, we can extract the tooth completely. If a baby tooth fails to fall out on time, we could extract it to help prevent misalignment. Our team could also remove them to help improve bite balance and chewing function. For some, this could be necessary to make room for orthodontic treatment too.
Steps to Ensure a Comfortable Experience
We know the idea of having a tooth removed can be a little scary for some kids, which is why we always take time to talk to them and answer their questions and address their concerns. Our team knows how to help kids feel relaxed and at ease, we want them to enjoy a positive experience after all, so they look forward to seeing the dentist. Along with our interpersonal skills, we can administer a local anesthesia to the area and even discuss sedation options to help kids enter a deep state of calm and relaxation, with little to no memory of the process at all!
Removing the Tooth
We plan the tooth extraction in detail with digital x-rays, so we can remove it without encountering blood vessels, sinus cavities, or nerve tissues. Once your child is relaxed and sedated, we will gently remove the tooth with a pair of forceps. We then suture the area closed and provide detailed aftercare instructions. We may also provide prescriptions for pain medications or antibiotics to aid in the healing process. At home, kids need to avoid straw use, be gentle when they brush and floss and avoid activity for about 24 hours. Make sure they eat soft foods, and remind them not to prod the site with their tongue, as a clot needs to form as part of the healing process and we do not want to dislodge it and cause a dry socket!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out today!
PDC Kids Provides Restorative Treatment for Kids
Our team wants to help children enjoy good oral health and avoid complications. To find out more about tooth extraction for kids, call Pediatric Dental Care at Casa Linda in Dallas, TX, today at (214) 321-4880.
filed under: Restorations for Kids