Repair Cavities and Restore Function to Your Child’s Teeth
We understand that children’s oral hygiene can be a challenge to maintain. When teeth aren’t properly cared for, tooth decay can occur. With composite fillings, we can repair cavities and restore the function and appearance of your child’s teeth in a single, minimally-invasive procedure.
Why Children’s Tooth Fillings?
Often parents want to know if having their children’s teeth filled is worth the time and money. After all, baby teeth eventually fall out anyway, right?
While it’s true that baby teeth are temporary, maintaining healthy baby teeth is essential for long-term dental development. The following are a few of the most important reasons to treat cavities and fill your child’s teeth as soon as possible:
- Chewing: Some teeth don’t fall out for YEARS! While front teeth become loose and fall out around age 4 to 6, back baby teeth need to be strong for chewing until a child is 12 or 13 years old.
- Tooth loss: If left untreated, tooth decay can lead to premature loss of baby teeth. This process can be painful, and lead to more serious infections.
- Uneven jaw development: Due to tooth sensitivity or discomfort, kids will often avoid chewing on the side of the mouth where cavities are present. This leads to uneven jaw development, which can negatively impact their oral health for the rest of their lives.
- Crowded or crooked teeth: Premature tooth loss leaves gaps, allowing teeth to shift around and become crooked or crowded. This shifting can even block out the space for permanent teeth to come in, without costly and time-consuming orthodontic treatment.
- Pain and discomfort: Untreated cavities continue to grow and become painful. No parent wants to see their child suffer. The composite filling procedure ensures that the infected areas of the tooth have been removed and repaired, preventing further spread and re-infection.
How is a Cavity Filled?
Gentle Numbing
To begin, our doctor carefully numbs your child’s gums before gently numbing the area surrounding the affected tooth. Dr. Leslie has lots of tricks to make this easier for your child, from extra topical jelly, distraction with a movie and a sugar-free popsicle to wash away any yucky taste. Most children do not even know that the tooth was numbed until their gums start to feel fluffy like a cloud! This standard procedure leaves the mouth numb, so your little one will barely feel a thing during the procedure.
Filling the Tooth
Once the mouth is numbed, the tooth is thoroughly cleaned and prepped. An adhesive gel is placed on the affected tooth over which white filling material will be molded and sculpted to match the exact contours of your child’s natural tooth. We have many filling materials, from glass ionomers to Admira Fusion ceramic restorations. Dr. Leslie will ensure your child gets the best type for their tooth, front or back, baby or permanent.
Checking and Polishing the Filling
Once the filling has hardened, either with a few moments’ time or a special curing light, Dr. Leslie will examine your child’s finished tooth and make any necessary finishing touches before giving it a final polish.
The Cost of Children’s Dental Fillings in Denver
Dental fillings are such common preventative procedures that most insurance companies provide significant coverage for them. With a typical insurance plan, expect to pay between $0 to $100+ for filling. If you don’t have dental insurance, you could pay anywhere from $120 to $300 or more, especially if your child requires multiple fillings at once.
But as we like to say, every mouth is different. There is no way to determine the exact cost of a dental filling without first performing a thorough inspection of your child’s teeth. That’s why we encourage you to call or contact our Pediatric dental clinic in Denver today to schedule a consultation for your child.
Contact us today
to schedule an initial consultation & exam.
Your consultation will include an examination of everything from your teeth, gums and soft tissues to the shape and condition of your bite. Generally, we want to see how your whole mouth looks and functions. Before we plan your treatment we want to know everything about the health and aesthetic of your smile, and, most importantly, what you want to achieve so we can help you get there.
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