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By teaching your children the importance of oral hygiene, they can begin to enjoy a healthy smile that lasts a lifetime. While brushing and flossing each day is critical to maintaining the strength of their teeth, it is still capable for children to experience cavities. By taking your son or daughter to semiannual checkups, you provide an opportunity to protect them against decay and detect it early when it does occur. This can minimize the work needed to remove a cavity and provide the strength of a dental filling. Protecting a baby’s tooth until it is time to fall out naturally is vital to ensuring your child’s bite stays in alignment and their jaw grows into its proper shape.

At your Shirley, NY, pediatric dentist and orthodontist, we are pleased to serve every member of your family. This includes paying special attention to your little ones as they begin their smile care journeys! While we love to see the results of their daily hygiene routine, we understand the difficulty they can have in fully reaching their back molars. This is why we perform regular examinations to catch decay and help prevent it from spreading or damaging their smiles worse.

When Tooth Decay Takes Hold In A Kid’s Smile

Just like their adult counterparts, kids love sweets and can sometimes have difficulty exercising discretion. Unfortunately, sugar can act as an accelerant when it comes to the growth of plaque and tartar on the surface of their teeth. This is why it is vital to brush and floss every day to remove the remnants from meals and snack time. Left alone, oral bacteria produce an acidic waste product that can wear away at the enamel of a tooth as it feeds. Without prompt treatment, this could progress to an infection or severely impact the alignment of their bite. To catch decay early, make sure to not skip any of your child’s pediatric dental appointments!

Removing Decay And Placing A Filling

When we detect tooth decay that requires removal, we will take digital images of your child’s mouth to better understand the size and scope of the carry. This can let us know if a filling is appropriate to restore their tooth, or if a larger restoration can better do the job. We will apply an anesthetic to the affected area to ensure your little one’s comfort and use special tools to clear decay. Placing their dental filling ensures that bacteria will not risk reinfecting the open portion of the tooth’s surface.

Speak With Your Shirley, NY, Orthodontist, and Pediatric Dentist About Treating Your Child’s Tooth Decay

By taking your children to checkups every six months, you can help them catch cavities before they get out of control! To learn more about on how we can help treat decay, contact Shirley Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry in Shirley, NY, by calling (631) 399-1600.