Early Dental Care

a child trying to eat an apple

San Diego Pediatric Dentists Help Your Children Feel at Ease

Caring for the unique dental needs of children and adolescents can be rewarding and demanding. Understanding this, The Super Dentists’ team of pediatric dentists is skilled and successful at helping your children relax and feel comfortable while providing them with the best dental care in San Diego County.

When you live in Chula Vista, EastLake, Oceanside or the surrounding San Diego area, your children’s needs can be met with one of several dental procedures offered by our experienced team of pediatric dentists.

To help you feel at ease in your decision making, descriptions of the varied procedures are outlined here. Simply click on any procedure in the list below for more details:

Pediatric Dentists Offer Choices When Your Children Require Crowns

Stainless Steel Crowns

General Information

If a cavity is not caught early, the decay can destroy so much of your child's tooth structure that there is not enough left to support a filling. A stainless steel crown saves the tooth and prevents the risk of pain and infection. Stainless steel lasts long and serves quite well for the life of your child's baby teeth. A crown keeps the tooth and root intact until tooth loss occurs naturally.

Stainless steel crowns are used when your child has

A broken tooth that cannot be repaired by normal fillings.
Badly decayed teeth where little tooth structure remains.
To prevent breakage of a tooth because part of a nerve has been removed (pulpotomy).

Your child's crown can usually be placed during one appointment. The pediatric dentist shapes your child's tooth to the necessary form and then trims a stainless steel crown to fit tightly over it. This crown is then cemented into place. The crowned tooth usually falls out normally when the permanent tooth is ready to come in.

Instructions for Home Care of Stainless Steel Crowns

There are no restrictions on your child's daily activities.
Encourage your child to brush right away. A clean mouth heals faster.
Your child should avoid between-meal sweets to help prevent cavities.
Hard, sticky food should also be avoided to prevent fracturing the crown.

Notify us if any of the following occur:

Gums around the crown become swollen or tender.
The tooth that has the crown becomes painful or loose.

Composite Crowns

General Information

Sometimes cavities in your children's teeth become so large that simple fillings cannot restore the tooth. When this occurs, a full coverage or composite crown may be used to enhance the appearance and strengthen the tooth.

The strength, durability and longevity of the crown are dependent on many factors. Our San Diego-based team of pediatric dentists does their best to provide your child with the finest possible restoration. By following home care instructions, and maintaining regular six-month check-ups, you can anticipate a long-lasting and attractive restoration for your child.

Composite crowns are used when your child has:

A broken tooth that cannot be repaired by normal fillings.
Badly decayed teeth where little tooth structure remains.
To prevent breakage of a tooth because part of a nerve has been removed (pulpotomy).

Instructions for Home Care for Composite Crowns

Encourage your child to brush right away.
Young children need assistance to brush properly so help them along. Remember, a clean mouth heals faster.
Discourage your child from eating hard, sticky foods that can fracture or break the composite crowns.

Note:

A composite crown is not as strong as a natural tooth. It's vital that you explain to your child how important it is for him/her to avoid biting into hard objects that put pressure on their crown.
Because the crown has microscopic pores, it has a tendency to darken slightly with time.
Composite crowns have a minimal amount of shades/colors to choose from.

Please notify The Super Dentists' office if any of the following occurs:

Gums around the composite crown become swollen or tender.
An abscess (gumboil) forms on the gum above the tooth.
The tooth that has the crown becomes painful or loose.

San Diego Pediatric Dentists Recommend Pulpotomy to Save Your Children's Teeth

What is Pulpotomy? - General Information

A deep cavity in your child's baby tooth may reach the nerve (pulp) of the tooth. When this happens, in order to save the tooth, your pediatric dentist may recommend a pulpotomy for your child.

A pulpotomy of a baby tooth is similar to, but not as complex as root canal treatment of an adult tooth. Both procedures prevent unnecessary loss of teeth. Your child's baby teeth are important in guiding the permanent teeth into position and should therefore remain in your child's mouth until they are lost naturally.

A pulpotomy removes part of the tooth's nerve to prevent or treat the formation of an abscess. A medicated filling material is placed in the nerve space and a cap or a filling is then used to restore your child's tooth.

The team at The Super Dentists' San Diego practice insists that your child brushes properly, flosses and avoids sweet snacks. After this procedure, your child should never have cavities large enough to require another pulpotomy again. To ensure this, please be sure to schedule regular check-ups every six months.

General Pulpotomy Practices

If your child received a local anesthetic for the pulpotomy, watch him/her for several hours afterward to make sure he/she is not chewing his/her cheek, tongue or lips which are numb.
Have your child brush and floss as usual. Remember, a clean mouth heals faster.
Discourage your child from eating hard sticky foods that might tend to remove the temporary filling material.

Medications After a Pulpotomy

Do not take or give any medications (not even those you buy without a prescription) without telling The Super Dentists and their team of professionals. If necessary, medication will be recommended by the dentist based on your child's individual needs. When drugs are prescribed, carefully follow the instructions on the label.

Sealants

Questions and Answers Often Asked of Pediatric Dentists Regarding Sealants

What are sealants?
Sealants are plastic coatings that mechanically attach to your child's tooth.

Where are they placed?
They are placed on the tops and sides of permanent teeth.

Do they prevent decay?
Yes, but not between the teeth. Brushing and flossing are still necessary.

What are sealants made of and are they dangerous to your health?
Sealants are made of the same type of materials that are used for white fillings in the mouth and they are not dangerous to your health.

Which teeth are sealants usually placed on?
They are usually placed on primary and permanent molars and bicuspids.

When is the best time for a sealant to be placed on a tooth?
The best time to place a sealant on a tooth is shortly after it erupts into the mouth.

How are they placed on the teeth?
They are brushed on the teeth.

Can they be replaced if they are worn off?
Yes.

Are there any restrictions on eating?
Yes, your child cannot chew on ice or popcorn kernels.

Do your teeth feel different after sealants have been placed?
Yes. For a few days following the placement of the sealants, you feel as though you are biting on the sealant (which you are). This is normal.

Fillings Help Restore Your Child's Teeth

A "filling" is used to replace and restore a tooth's structure when it is fractured or damaged due to decay. The Super Dentists and their team of pediatric professionals replace old, broken-down metal fillings that contain traces of mercury with white fillings (composites) to restore your child's smile and teeth – giving them a more natural look and feel.

With today's advancements, no longer do your children have to suffer the embarrassment of unsightly and unhealthy silver/mercury fillings or metal margins of the past. State-of-the-art tooth-colored resins now eliminate that outdated dark black appearance.

Bonding – A Solution for Enhancing Your Child's Smile

When children are embarrassed to smile, it's often because they don't want others to see their teeth. This may be happen because they have a chipped or cracked tooth, there are unsightly spaces between their teeth or their teeth are discolored or faded.

Bonding is a common solution to these challenges. Often used to improve the appearance of your teeth and enhance your smile. As the name indicates, composite material (either a plastic or resin) is bonded to an existing tooth. Composite bonding has many advantages:

It is a quick process, which typically takes less than one hour.
It does not reduce the tooth’s original structure and is relatively inexpensive.
The resins used come in many different shades and provide better matching of shades to the natural color of your child’s teeth.

Note: Composite bonds are not as durable and long-lasting as veneers and crowns. Therefore, they may need to be re-touched or replaced in the future. They also stain more easily so they require proper care and regular cleaning. In order to ensure the longest possible duration of the bonding, encourage your child to brush and floss daily.

Space Maintainers Help Permanent Teeth Grow Correctly

General Information

Sometimes your children may lose baby teeth early on. When that happens, the pediatric team at The Super Dentists may recommend a space maintainer. This appliance is designed to hold the space of the extracted primary tooth until the permanent tooth erupts into its proper place.

In addition, if a primary tooth is lost due to accident or decay, the surrounding teeth should be held in place to prevent closing of this space. When teeth are lost, neighboring teeth may shift position in just a few weeks. Therefore, a space maintainer should be used as soon as possible after the loss of the tooth.

Instructions for Home Care for Space Maintainers

A space maintainer is fixed or cemented into your child's mouth. With this in mind, it's important that:

Hard, sticky foods such as chewing gum and taffy should be avoided.
You encourage your child to eat foods that do not place unnecessary pressure on the wires of their appliance.
If the appliance is fixed and loosens, an appointment should be made to re-cement it immediately.
You pay close attention to your child's brushing and flossing around the teeth where the spacer is cemented.

Expander Instructions and Video

There are various types of space maintainers, and in some cases more than one technique may be tried. If you're in the East Lake, Oceanside, Chula Vista or surrounding areas, contact The Super Dentists to determine which maintainer is best for your child's dental health.

Teeth Whitening Makes Your Child's Smile Shine Bright

Your children's teeth naturally darken over time. Changes in the color of their teeth can be caused by such factors as:

The food and beverages they drink (i.e. soda).
Childhood medications or illnesses.
Improper oral hygiene.

Restoring your child's natural white smile is a priority for The Super Dentists and their team of pediatric dentists. Trained and skilled in a variety of teeth whitening solutions, we offer the state-of-the-art Laser, Zoom, as well as professionally-made whitening trays your child can use at home.

Our goal is to meet the needs of every child, and we recognize that every child's needs are different. Nothing improves your child's appearance more than a bright, white SMILE!

Live in San Diego County?
Make Your Child's Appointment to See a Pediatric Dentist Today

Browse this Web site for more details about The Super Dentists’ San Diego practice. You’ll find lots of detailed information designed to help you make a smart decision regarding your children’s dental care.

Then, when you’re looking for a pediatric dentist in Oceanside, East Lake, Chula Vista or the surrounding area, call our office at (619) or (760) DENTIST (336-8478). If you prefer to e-mail us first, please do so at info@TheSuperDentists.com. One of our friendly team members will respond to you promptly. For our office hours, San Diego locations and maps, simply click here.