Pediatric Dentistry In Cranberry Township & McCandless, PA

Your child may need a white filling if we discover a cavity in one of their teeth. These cavities are typically caused by tooth decay from harmful bacteria and acids. By installing fillings, we are able to keep their teeth safe from infection as well as preserve the shape of the tooth. These fillings blend in naturally with their smile, and there is no recovery period from this procedure.

A baby root canal may be necessary to save your child’s tooth if they have a cavity that runs deep near their nerve so that it has been infected. The two types of procedures that may be done in this instance are a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy. A pulpotomy is when just the top of the nerve needs to be cleaned. If the infection reaches deeper and the entire nerve must be cleaned, this is a pulpectomy.

Crowns are a great tool to preserve the shape of a child’s tooth if it lacks structure after the decay is cleaned out. We always want to preserve your child’s natural smile, and crowns act as a cap that covers the tooth and prevents it from further breakage or fracturing. In addition to structural damage, a crown may be recommended if your child’s tooth is hypersensitive after a baby root canal.

A tooth extraction may be recommended if your child’s tooth has deep decay and structural damage, their smile is overcrowded, or they have certain orthodontic needs. We know that kids often have some anxiety when they come into the dentist’s office, so we try to make the experience as comfortable and smooth as possible with different sedation techniques.

Silver Diamine Fluoride, or SDF, is a medicinal liquid that is designed to prevent cavities from growing larger. SDF has been used by generations of dentists as a more comfortable alternative to fillings and crowns. However, it’s important to note that SDF is known to stain the cavity black, so it won’t have the same natural finish as other cavity filling methods.

We know that it is harder for some kids to kick habits such as thumb sucking, nail-biting, tongue thrusting, and more. The prolonged practice of these habits has the potential to damage their smile and affect their oral health. To help combat the effects of these prolonged habits, we offer special appliances that are made to perfectly fit your child’s mouth and address each type of habit.

If your child loses a tooth earlier than expected due to decay or crowding, they may need a space maintainer to preserve room for their adult teeth to grow. Without this appliance, their neighboring teeth may begin to fill this gap resulting in a bigger orthodontic issue down the road.

Our team is passionate about creating happier and healthier smiles for our patients that will last them a lifetime. This is why we’ve gone the extra mile to serve as your local authority in all things cosmetic dentistry. The look and feel of a smile are known to have a tremendous impact on self-confidence, and we want to set your child up for success with techniques that are guaranteed to keep their teeth bright and white.

It’s common for children to feel a little bit of anxiety when they come in for appointments and procedures, and this is why we offer Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas, to help curb this anxiety. Nitrous Oxide is a safe and mild sedative that is breathed in through a mask that we will place over your child’s nose. It will give them a calm feeling that will allow us to move forward with the appointment safely. Once the appointment is complete, we will place them on 100% oxygen for a few minutes until they feel back to normal.

At our practice, we use oral conscious sedation and IV sedation. Oral conscious sedation is administered in the form of a liquid that we will give your child to drink. This will not put your child completely to sleep. Instead, it will just make them feel a little disoriented. This type of sedation lasts a little longer, so you should plan for your child not to go back to school after their appointment and monitor them throughout the day.

We have a dental anesthesiologist for IV sedation that will put your child fully to sleep before the procedure. This type of sedation takes an additional consultation and discussion with an anesthesiologist and is not lightly recommended. Your child should not eat food for a certain amount of time before the procedure or show signs of sickness. If one of these things occurs, you should cancel the appointment and reschedule it for a later date. It’s also possible that they may need medical clearance before they can go under this sedation.