Is it Necessary To Fill Cavities on Baby Teeth?

Hello beautiful people of Burlington!

The school year has once again started, and as we start to get back into our healthy habits and routines, we see many patients come in with new cavities. Especially children. It isn’t a secret that dental cavities are a direct result of exposing teeth to sugars and a less than optimal dental hygiene. Breaking our normal routines through travel and new activities can come at the expense of dental hygiene habits, leading to cavities and other dental problems.

What is the right approach then when our children get cavities? Do we fix them with dental fillings, or do we rely on the fact that they’re temporarily there and simply do nothing?

The answer is, it depends.

When you visit our dentists in Burlington, the first thing they do is a comprehensive assessment for the child’s teeth and oral health. The assessment includes a thorough knowledge of the child’s medical history and age. These play a major role in decisions on how to treat dental concerns for children.

At our dental office, we see children as young as 3 years of age with cavities on every tooth due to sleeping with the bottle. Milk is sugary, while the child sips from the bottle to sleep, the milk sticks to the surfaces of the teeth. Coupled with the reduced salivary flow during sleep and the lack of toothbrushing, we inadvertently cause tremendous damage to the child’s new teeth. A child that young certainly needs their teeth to be able to eat and grow. The choice becomes simple, these teeth should be filled.

If a child is slightly older with rampant cavities, we assess how long, on average, it will take the new teeth to come in. The longer the time, the more critical it is to fill the cavities. Not only will it help maintain the function of eating and help the child enjoy a healthy life. These teeth also serve as space maintainers, keeping an optimal space for the new teeth to come in. When pulled too soon, baby teeth tend to shift into the empty spaces and prevent the adult teeth from erupting or force them to change their pathway of eruption. This creates more problems such as a need for braces. Teeth that aren’t straight are also harder to clean, leading to more cavities.

Another important reason why our dentists may recommend filling baby teeth is to help with normal growth and development of the jaw bones. Growth in the mouth is a complex process, where the presence of teeth is at the centre. The chewing action that teeth provide stimulates growth in jaw bones. The presence of teeth allows for appropriate spaces to be maintained on both sides of the jaws and therefore maintains the natural growth process.

Childrens’ dentistry is a wonderful field that involves vigilant attention to not only the health of teeth and presence or absence of cavities, but also the normal development and growth of a child. Our children dentists look at patterns of growth, are they slow or fast? Would that indicate a hidden problem in the child’s body? They look at speech problems, habits that could affect development both physically and mentally. Alignment of teeth and how this will impact a child’s life . Eating habits as well as hereditary diseases that could be controlled at an early age. Indicators of possible hormonal abnormalities and other concerns that could help parents make better decisions regarding their children’s health and well being.

We also happen to make a child’s visit unforgettable, fun and easy!