Pediatric dental crowns are used to restore damaged, decayed, and infected teeth in kids of all ages. Essentially, a crown is a hollow, false tooth made out of a durable material like stainless steel. This crown covers and “caps” your child’s tooth, protecting it from further damage and complications. If you think that your child may need a pediatric dental crown in Naperville, Dr. Neelon Patel and the team at Pinky Promise Pediatric Dentistry are here for you.
At our office, we use stainless steel crowns to treat damaged, decayed, and infected baby teeth. Stainless steel crowns are extremely durable and strong, and are available in tons of pre-fitted shapes and sizes. This means that there’s no need to custom-build a crown for your child.
This saves you time, since stainless steel crowns can be placed in just one appointment. It also saves you money, since metal crowns are much cheaper than custom-made porcelain crowns. Because they're cheaper, stainless steel crowns are ideal for baby teeth. They provide excellent protection until your child’s baby tooth falls out naturally, and is replaced by a healthy adult tooth.
There are many reasons to place a pediatric crown on a baby tooth. If their tooth is fractured or broken, the crown can hold it together to prevent it from being extracted. Crowns reinforce the strength of a tooth with highly durable materials that absorb chewing forces, so they don’t crumble when your child uses the tooth.
It can be inconvenient to have a damaged or weakened tooth. Your child may be insecure about visible chips and cracks, or they may need to avoid many of their favorite foods so they don’t damage their teeth.
Crowns restore teeth to improve tooth functionality, speech, and aesthetics and maintain space in the mouth. Protecting a tooth with a crown prevents the tooth from getting infected or forming decay, which will require more invasive dental treatment, up to and including extraction.
Infections, tooth decay, and broken teeth can all be painful. Crowns prevent your child from dealing with significant discomfort and undergoing more invasive dental work.
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It’s important to avoid pulling teeth whenever possible. Many parents mistakenly believe that because baby teeth fall out naturally, they must not matter. This could not be further from the truth.
Your child’s baby teeth help them chew their food, maintain an aesthetic smile, pronounce sounds, and maintain proper bite alignment. If your child loses a tooth before they’re supposed to, they will suffer from bone loss.
With nothing maintaining this tooth space, the surrounding teeth will drift, causing orthodontic misalignment, but worst of all, teeth can lean into the space where the permanent tooth is supposed to erupt.
This is why a space maintainer needs to be placed right away when a tooth is lost too soon – it holds the space open until the permanent tooth is ready to break through the gums.
Bone loss causes many other consequences, too, including reduced support to facial muscles, premature facial sagging, and increased risk of additional tooth loss. Dr. Neelon Patel will always try to preserve your child’s healthy teeth and avoid extractions whenever possible.
To prevent your child from needing a dental crown or tooth pulled, you should ensure that they consistently practice good oral hygiene. Your child should brush their teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss once a day once their teeth are close enough to be touching.
Your child needs a checkup and dental cleaning every six months to remove plaque and tartar buildup that causes cavities and gum disease. If you can prevent your child from developing cavities and infections, this already reduces their risk of needing crown protection and extractions.
Another reason your child could need a dental crown is damage from dental trauma. You should carefully monitor your child to ensure they aren’t engaging in hazardous activities like hanging upside down on playgrounds or playing dangerous games.
Have your child wear a custom mouthguard while they play sports or if they show signs of teeth grinding. Try limiting your child’s consumption of very hard foods, which can crack or break teeth.
We accept all PPO insurance plans. We do not accept Medicaid or HMO policies. For our uninsured patients, ask us about our Membership Plan, Pinky Perks!
