Pulp Therapy: Saving Developing Smiles with Root Canals

You know soda isn’t the best beverage for your young child, but they love it. They see you drink it every day too and want to be like you! You tell yourself they are drinking fluids, and you don’t see the harm—until one day they complain about a toothache, and you need to see an emergency dentist for kids.

When you take them to see their pediatric dentist, you discover that a baby tooth has a deep cavity. Basically, your choices are to get pulp therapy or a root canal or to have the tooth removed entirely. Although extracting the baby tooth can seem like a logical thing to do, pulp therapy may be the right way to go for your child’s smile in the long run! Keep reading to learn more about this treatment and how it can benefit your little one.

What Is Pulp Therapy?

Pulp therapy, which consists of pulpectomy and pulpotomy, basically resembles a root canal procedure. The main points are essentially the same—the pulp or nerve center of the tooth is removed. The major difference is that pulp therapy is done on a primary or baby tooth instead of a permanent one.

While a primary tooth has a hard enamel shell on the outside, this layer is much thinner than that of an adult tooth. As a result, it doesn’t take much for decay-causing bacteria to reach the more sensitive pulp. Once this happens, pulp therapy becomes necessary.

Why Is Pulp Therapy Needed?

You may be wondering why anyone should bother with treating baby teeth at all. They are supposed to come out naturally at some point—why not just remove them entirely if they become decayed or damaged?

These small teeth are more important than they seem at first glance. Without them, your little one would not be able to bite and chew their food properly, which can lead to poor digestion and its many negative consequences. Also, while permanent teeth develop in their gums, the baby teeth keep them properly aligned so that they erupt where they should. While orthodontic treatment may still be needed later on, preserving baby teeth and helping adult teeth come in better aligned. This could reduce the time and money you’ll need to invest in orthodontic care when they get older.

In the end, although the smarter solution would be to limit or stop drinking soda, you do have pulp therapy that can preserve your child’s baby teeth for as long as they are needed. When the time comes, they can come out, making way for their adult teeth, which ideally should last a lifetime!

About the Author

As a board-certified pediatric dentist, Dr. Allen Pearson has been serving the Wylie community for nearly 20 years. After having unpleasant dental experiences as a child, he decided to provide the kind of care he didn’t have access to growing up. He currently holds memberships with the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry as well as the Texas Dental Association and the American Dental Association. If you would like to schedule an appointment at his practice, Wylie Children’s Dentistry, you can contact us by calling 972-429-7070 or visiting our Contact Us page here.