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Stainless Steel Crowns for Children Explains by Our Sherrills Ford Pediatric Dentist

Stainless steel crowns for children play a vital role in the oral health of a child. Sherrills Ford pediatric dentist recommends their placement at his local dental office to ensure the young patient’s proper development of the oral region including mastication and the ability to speak. All patient and their caretakers are extensively educated about the importance of “baby teeth”, their longevity and minimizing any detrimental oral habits that may lead to complex oral issues in the futures.

Longevity and First Signs of Decay

The first primary teeth begin to erupt at the age of six months. By three years of age, all 20 teeth are fully erupted. It is worth noting that primary dentition does not contain premolars. By the age of six, the baby teeth start to exfoliate until all of them are replaced by permanent teeth around the age of 13. Therefore it is crucial to retain full dentition until the appearance of permanent teeth.

Primary teeth have large pulped chambers that contain vital nerves and tissues along with enamel being much weaker than that of permanent teeth. At the very first sign of decay, the dentist makes every effort to remove the decay without any pulpal involvement and tries to repair it with a standard filling. However, in some cases, the progress of the decay has gone beyond ordinary repairs and a pulpotomy must be performed to retain the tooth until the eruption of the permanent tooth underneath it. It also prevents the transfer of decay from primary to permanent undeveloped dentition.

Stainless Steel Option

Stainless steel crowns for children becomes a viable option when the tooth has been treated internally with the pulpotomy and needs reinforcement on the outside protecting it from breaking. Stainless steel crowns are placed on posterior teeth only for aesthetic reasons and because of their strength and durability during normal daily use.

If the tooth has gone beyond reasonable repairs, a space maintainer may be placed to prevent migration of the adjustment teeth into the empty space that may impact the eruption of permanent teeth in the future. In recent years a shift between stainless steel crowns and porcelain crowns have been noted. A local dental office offers itemized descriptions of each procedure and may be able to tailor the treatment to individual needs of each patient.

Contact your Sherrills Ford pediatric dentist to find out detailed information about the services provided and to schedule an initial evaluation.

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