Pediatric Dental Crowns
Why does my child need a crown on his or her baby teeth?
It’s natural for your child’s baby teeth to fall out and leave room for permanent teeth. However, when baby teeth fall out or have to be extracted due to dental decay (cavities) or s enamel defects, there can be serious consequences and complex orthodontic issues down the road. Therefore, it’s important to extend the life of a primary tooth, not only for aesthetics, but for development and function.
If your child has significant tooth decay or damage, Dr. Krepkh may recommend a pediatric crown to restore your child’s tooth instead of extracting it. Crowns are placed on teeth that have large areas of decay that could possibly break if restored with a simple filling material.
Keeping your child’s primary (baby) teeth functioning until they fall out naturally will not only help with speech and food consumption, but also will allow your child’s permanent teeth to come in correctly.
If my child needs a crown what are my options?
At Kids Dentistry Center in Brooklyn, Dr. Krepkh offers few options for restoring a baby tooth with a crown:
Stainless steel crowns, which are silver caps that cover the whole tooth. Stainless steel crowns are the most common type of crown used in pediatric dentistry and offer great results for longevity, success rates, and retention, but as the name implies, they are metal. Dr. Krepkh does offer stainless steel crowns with a white, pre-veneered plastic facing, which is often preferred especially on the front teeth. Sometimes a misperception is held that the “silver” commonly used to describe the crowns is the mercury which was used in “silver fillings.” This is not the case. The silver is only the color. The material is stainless steel.
Porcelain or ceramic crowns, which are white and made to match the color of the surrounding teeth. All-porcelain or all-ceramic Pediatric Dental Crowns provide a better natural color match than any other crown type and can be used for front and back teeth. The crowns provide full functionality and are more aesthetically pleasing than stainless steel crowns. Yet they are also strong and durable. Porcelain and ceramic crowns are completely biocompatible and won’t make your child’s teeth sensitive to hot and cold. These type of crowns are, essentially, the next best thing to your child’s natural teeth.
If your child has been complaining of a sore tooth or has stopped eating, talking, or drinking like he or she normally does, make an appointment today with Kids Dentistry Center in Brooklyn. Our kind and patient clinicians and staff will do everything in their power to make your child feel comfortable and to proactively treat dental decay.