Paediatric dentistry
This question is more than six months old, so the information in the answer may no longer be accurate.
Visitor asks:
Hello. A few days ago I noticed 2 small black spots on both lower first primary molars of my 22-month-old daughter. That same day we went to the dentist, who confirmed caries. He and the assistant discussed how it should be treated, namely that it would have to be done as in adults; then something about a material that can be used even if saliva gets to it... in short, I do not know because I am not familiar with this. Today we had the appointment. He only drilled the teeth and left them open so that pus could drain and supposedly this should not hurt my daughter. I should say that I am very worried about all this. Since her first tooth erupted, we have brushed regularly, and she has almost no sugar or other sweet drinks. She is really very restricted in all of this, in addition to regular oral hygiene... I do not know where the problem was or what I did wrong, because I truly never expected this. Her other teeth are very nice and healthy, but both lower first primary molars have caries reaching the pulp. I am also worried because my daughter is obviously in pain, as she cries loudly when eating. In addition, how will I be able to clean the food out of the tooth thoroughly... I would also like to know whether leaving a tooth open like this is really the best approach? What can I expect? I apologize for the confused question... I am very sad and worried.
Dentist Tomaž Rotar answers:
Dear Sir/Madam!
Caries progresses very quickly in primary teeth. In your case the lesion was deep, so the teeth had to be trephined/opened. The procedure for primary teeth differs from procedures on permanent teeth. We most often leave primary teeth open, because in most cases closing the tooth results in swelling and pain. Personally, I also try to close primary teeth after trephination, but the dressings in the root canal or pulp chamber need to be changed relatively frequently. The problem with open teeth is cleaning the opening, because blockage with food can again cause pressure to rise inside the tooth and therefore pain. If at all possible, we do not extract a primary tooth until the period when the permanent tooth begins to erupt, because the primary tooth preserves space for its successor.
Have a nice day!
Caries progresses very quickly in primary teeth. In your case the lesion was deep, so the teeth had to be trephined/opened. The procedure for primary teeth differs from procedures on permanent teeth. We most often leave primary teeth open, because in most cases closing the tooth results in swelling and pain. Personally, I also try to close primary teeth after trephination, but the dressings in the root canal or pulp chamber need to be changed relatively frequently. The problem with open teeth is cleaning the opening, because blockage with food can again cause pressure to rise inside the tooth and therefore pain. If at all possible, we do not extract a primary tooth until the period when the permanent tooth begins to erupt, because the primary tooth preserves space for its successor.
Have a nice day!
✦ This content was translated from the original with the assistance of an AI translation system.
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