What is a pediatric dental crown?
Pediatric dental crowns, also known as caps, are used to restore a tooth’s function and appearance when its structural integrity is compromised, by either decay or fracture, beyond what a dental filling can repair. Pediatric dental crowns are made from durable materials like stainless steel (silver) or porcelain (white).
Our doctors may recommend a dental crown for your child if their tooth has been damaged or fractured, often due to facial trauma; or when a tooth has extensive decay that cannot successfully support a filling but is savable, meaning the decay or damage has not affected the tooth’s root or underlying bone.
Why is it important to treat baby teeth?
- Decay on baby teeth can affect the permanent teeth underneath. The harmful bacteria that cause decay like to travel, and if left untreated, will make its way under the gum line and spread to the unerupted permanent teeth and jawbone. Once the bacteria make its way under the gumline more serious and difficult to treat conditions such as an infection (abscess) and the extraction of teeth become a concern.
- Baby teeth are placeholders for permanent teeth. A baby tooth falls out when the permanent tooth is pushing it out. Without the baby tooth to save space the surrounding teeth with shift out of their ideal positions and into the gap created by the missing baby tooth. When the permanent tooth is ready to erupt, the spot it needs to go won’t be there so if may find another, less ideal place , or not erupt at all. If this happens, once all the permanent teeth have erupted, braces or surgery may be needed to correct your child’s bit so it will function optimally.
- Your teeth support speech development. Teeth act as a backstop for your tongue and support for the lips. When learning how to speak it is important for children to learn how to correctly form the shape of their mouths to pronounce words and speak clearly.
- Your teeth and smile are an important part of a confident self. Confidence and feeling good about yourself is an important part of making friends, doing well in school, feeling brave enough to try something new or scary. If your child is self-conscious about their mouth and teeth, they may be less willing to engage in social interactions.