Dental Fillings in Highland Village
Expert Pediatric Dental Care
The doctors at Pediatric Dental World are experts in treating tooth decay. Cavities are the #1 most common preventable childhood disease. Despite your best efforts, your child may develop a few cavities as they grow, and it’s important to treat them right away.
If you suspect your child has a cavity in Highland Village, contact us online to schedule a consultation at our office right away.
Why Would My Child Need A Dental Filling?
Dental fillings are the best way to treat cavities. By removing the decayed material and replacing it with an inert, strong, and tooth-like filling, you can halt the progression of the cavity. This restores your child’s smile and eliminates the discomfort of a cavity.
Not only that, but early treatment with restorative dentistry like a filling also prevents further complications like tooth infection. This can save you a lot of time, money, and stress. For all of these reasons, you should get in touch with the team at Pediatric Dental World right away if you suspect your child has a cavity.
All of this is true of baby teeth, too. Although your child’s baby teeth will fall out naturally as they grow, it’s still important to restore decayed baby teeth with fillings. Failing to do so will result in a lot of pain and discomfort if your child’s tooth becomes infected. Tooth infections may also result in premature tooth loss, which may cause problems with your child’s oral development as their permanent adult teeth erupt.
Comfortable, Long-Lasting Treatment
Dental Fillings At Our Office
Our goal is to provide your child with a caring, comfortable, and gentle dental experience in Highland Village. We offer tooth-like composite fillings and sedation for every patient.
Composite Fillings
Tooth-like composite fillings are the best way to restore and rebuild your child’s tooth. These fillings are made from a blend of dental resin and glass particles, and are very strong, durable, and life-like.
Gentle Sedation
With sedation dentistry, such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas), even nervous and anxious kids can feel comfortable while they get the expert dental care they need in Highland Village.
Do Dental Fillings Hurt?
No. The filling process is minimally invasive, and will not cause any pain or discomfort. We use the latest numbing products and offer sedation to keep your child feeling completely safe and comfortable throughout their treatment at Pediatric Dental World.
The Benefits Of Composite Dental Fillings
Wondering why we prefer composite fillings rather than metal amalgam fillings? Here are a few benefits.
Natural Appearance
While metal fillings discolor the teeth, composite fillings don’t. They will be matched to your child’s surrounding teeth, and will look and feel totally natural.
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Treat baby and adult teeth
Composite fillings are suitable for treating both baby teeth and adult teeth, and can be used to restore the front and rear teeth, making them highly versatile.
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Minimal prep
Compared to metal fillings, composite fillings require the removal of less tooth material, streamlining the process and helping your child stay comfortable.
Why Repair Baby Teeth?
It’s natural to wonder what the point is in restoring baby teeth that are going to fall out on their own anyway. It comes down to three main factors.
The first is that failing to repair a damaged or decayed tooth will result in worsening decay that becomes increasingly more painful and can lead to an infection that, if left untreated, will spread through the bloodstream and pose serious health complications.
The second reason is that your child’s teeth help them chew, speak, and maintain their smile. When your child loses a tooth, they’re left with a noticeable gap that can make them feel self-conscious. They will have fewer teeth to perform mastication actions like chewing and grinding their food and this can also lead to speech impediments.
Finally, your child needs their baby teeth to maintain space in the mouth and to guide the eruption of the permanent teeth. When a tooth is lost too soon, your child will suffer from bone loss and the surrounding teeth will start to drift, leading to orthodontic problems like overcrowding and even potentially blocking the eruption of the permanent tooth.
Even when placing a space maintainer to prevent the movement of the surrounding teeth and guide the permanent tooth, your child will still have irreversible bone loss that affects their facial structure.
What To Expect During the Filling Process
We will ask that you bring your child in for a consultation so we can assess the condition of their tooth and look for signs of decay. After taking x-rays, we can determine if the damage can be treated with a filling or if your child will require a pulpotomy or root canal depending on how deep the decay or trauma has reached.
The filling process starts with applying a topical numbing agent in the mouth and then injecting a local anesthetic to prevent any pain sensation during the procedure. After your child’s mouth is fully numb, we will use a dental drill to remove decay from the tooth. This area of the tooth is then cleaned and dried.
An acidic etching solution is then applied to the tooth to roughen the surface and help the bonding material that is applied stick. Composite resin is then applied and cured with UV light. After exposing the resin to the UV light, the filling will instantly harden, but this process may need to be repeated a few times in multiple layers depending on the depth of the cavity.
Are Dental Fillings for Children Covered By Insurance?
Even the most basic dental insurance plans cover fillings. They’re considered a preventative procedure because they stop tooth decay from spreading and becoming more severe. If that were to happen, your child would require more invasive and costly dental treatment.
As a result, insurance companies would rather cover minimally invasive preventative measures like fillings, which is why they’re typically covered at about 80%. You may also have a deductible and a waiting period so contact your insurance provider directly to find out what they cover and any other requirements you may have to meet.
We proudly serve Highland Village & Double Oak!