What is Pediatric Dentistry?

Pediatric dentistry is the branch that is concerned about the problems and treatments of the primary and early permanent teeth until the process of eruption of all the permanent teeth. The treatments of primary and early permanent teeth contains a large scale of applications like preventive care, fillings and root canal treatments, dental trauma and space maintainers applied to prevent the possible orthodontic problems caused by early lost of the primary teeth.

Pediatric dentistry is the specialty of dentistry that focuses on the oral health and unique needs of young people. After completing a four-year dental school curriculum, two to three additional years of rigorous training is required to become a pediatric dentist.

The treatment of primary teeth and early permanent teeth is fiiling, root planning, malocclusion and orthodontic treatment and lastly practicing functional appareys to prevent the space that becomes losting of primary tooth early. This specialized program of study and hands-on experience prepares pediatric dentists to meet the unique needs of your infants, children and adolescents, Including persons with special health care needs.

Primary teeth and care

Primary teeth start to come in when baby is six mounths old and it has twenty primary teeth until it is 3 years old. When the first tooth comes in dental care should start . At first you can clean your child's gums with a soft infant toothbrush and water.

clean the tooth by a sterile towel after every feeding. Your child should visit a pediatric dentist when the first tooth comes in, usually between six and twelve months of age. Early examination and preventive care will protect your child's smile now and in the future.

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Meeting pediatric dentist

Since the day the first teeth come in, it is important for your child to come to dentist for regular check ups to prevent the possible dental problems.

The first dental visit should be like a meeting appointment. Treatment can not be performed in the first appointment, only an oral examination is performed and advices on oral hygiene and eating habits are given and the parents and the child are informed about the future treatments. This meeting appointment is very important because child gets information about the things that will be done in his mouth and the dental phobia is prevented.

Dental phobia develops because of the late bad experiences or the things he listens from the parents about their bad experiences. Pediatric dentists are educated not only about the oral treatments but also communication with the child and cooperate the child during the treatment. As a result of all these the child achieves a life long healthy communication with the dentist and the children who has dental fear are treated.

If the child is not too much young, the parents are not preferred to be inside the treatment room. A childs attention can be distracted easier than an adult and the child may not decide to whom to give his attention. This cause the treatment to lengthen and the communication to be inefficient. Also sometimes the parents reflect their anxiety to the child and this harms the communication between the child and the dentist.

Preventive treatments

Fissure sealants: it is the coverage of the pits and grooves on the surface of the permanent and deciduous teeth which is predisposed to caries with a white dental material. About 6 years the first permanent teeth come behind the deciduous teeth. Usually they are not cared properly and quickly decayed. Teeth have weak mineral content at the first years when they come in the mouth. This case when combined with the insufficient oral hygiene cause teeth to get decayed easily. Fissure sealants make it impossible for the bacteria to localize on the surface of the teeth and protect them from caries. It is very efficient to prevent the teeth.

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Topical fluoride applications

Fluoride is a mineral present in nature and some foods. It is scientifically proved that fluoride joins in the structure of the enamel and protects the tooth. If sufficient concentration of fluoride is constantly present in the mouth, it prevents new caries.

Acidic environment of the mouth after the meals cause enamel to dissolve. But fluoridated teeth are stronger and do not get dissolved in this pH. Fluoride is also present in toot paste and with regular brushing it also helps. Proffesional fluoride application every 3 or 6 months helps children to protect their teeth from decay all life long.

Fillings and root canal treatments

Deciduous teeth are copy of permanent teeth. but some people find it meaningless to treat them as at last they will change. This attitude causes big problems that effects systemic situation of the child.

Infected deciduos teeth when left in the mouth harm the germs of the permanent teeth which is present inside the bone just behind decidous teeth. The color, form and structure is defected.

If the decay is not too deep, filling is enough to treat. For deep caries or teeth with infected lesion need root canal treatment. The aim of all these treatments are to prevent the infection to go ahead and harm permanent teeth.

Stainless steel crowns

In some cases tissue loss is too much to allow us to make a retentive filling. For these teeth stainless steel crowns are the healthier treatment choice. This treatment replaces chewing function and prevents the loss of vertical dimension.