Why Patients Need Dental Restorations for Kids

In our San Clemente dentist office we offer dental restorations for kids and use them to restore teeth that have been hurt on the playground, while riding a bike, or in other situations. Regardless of why your child damages a tooth, we are here to treat the pain as quickly as possible. But first, it is important to take steps to prevent damage before it can occur.Bring your child to our office twice a year for teeth cleaning to help your child remain healthy and avoid dental health issues. By removing plaque and tartar, we can decrease the risk of them developing cavities.

Since cavities weaken the teeth, it is important to do so. Additionally, if they do develop tooth decay, we want to remove the decayed portion of the tooth and restore it so that the tooth is not prime for damage when they do get into an accident. Finally, we can use things like dental fluoride and sealant to further strengthen and protect their teeth from decay or damage.

Tip: If your child plays sports, be sure to have them wear a mouth guard. This one step can do wonders for protecting their teeth and preventing them from being knocked out during practice or while playing a game.

Reasons Parents Require Dental Restorations for Kids

Playground accident

It is really easy for children to slip on the playground, land incorrectly on the monkey bars, or fall down while playing tag with friends. In this situation, their teeth may be the victim of their playground accident and a tooth can easily chip or fall out. If it happens, do not worry, just get the child to our office as soon as possible.

Eating accident

Children do not understand their own limitations much of the time. Children may try to eat something like a hard nut or bite down on a jawbreaker without ever considering the damage they may do to their teeth. Even if the child is feeling a slight discomfort, the child will finish the task until the tooth is in throbbing pain. We see this all the time and can restore their tooth if it happens.

Playing sports

Parents realize that sports like hockey and football are dangerous and can do dental damage. This is why children are required to wear mouthguards when they play. The problem is that other sports, like basketball, can be equally as dangerous to the teeth and nobody wears a mouthguard when playing. As a result, parents are likely to find more kids with tooth loss on the basketball court than the football field.

Decay

If teeth are infected, or decay is severe, we may need to perform a dental restoration and likely will. If the infection is minor, then placing a dental filling after removing a cavity will be all that is necessary. However, in some cases, we may need to use dental crowns after the plaque wears away the enamel.

Types of Dental Restorations for Kids

Two of the most common types of dental restorations for kids are dental bonding and dental crowns. The bonding material is used on minor cracks and chips while dental crowns are more common when a lot of the enamel is missing after an infection or decay.