3 Reasons Your Child Needs A Dental Crown Even Though The Damaged Tooth Will Fall Out Anyway

Dentist Articles

Does your toddler have excessive tooth decay? Has their dentist recommended one or more dental crowns be placed on their teeth? With the cost of dental crowns being quite steep and many insurance companies not covering the procedure, it makes sense to wonder whether or not dental crown placement is really necessary for your child. They haven't complained of any pain (cavities usually don't hurt) and they've still got their primary teeth -- can't you just wait for the affected tooth to fall out on its own? It's not a good idea. Read on to learn 3 reasons why dental crowns are necessary for severely damaged toddler teeth, even though the baby teeth will someday be replaced by permanent ones.

1. Speech Development

The first three years of a child's life are spent rapidly developing their speech and language abilities. The teeth play an important role in this development, as many sounds are produced by pressing the tongue against the teeth. Fortunately, baby teeth erupt just in time to allow toddlers to practice these speech skills. But if one of those teeth is severely damaged, it's going to hinder the process.

2. Digestion

One of the key roles of teeth is to assist the body with the digestion of food. A child who is missing one or more teeth, or has extensive tooth decay, may not be able to chew and process their food well. Of course this could lead to a choking hazard, but it can also pose a variety of other risks, such as insufficient nutrition and the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Furthermore, your child's risk of developing a food-borne illness increases when they are missing teeth because saliva helps kill those pathogens, and the less your child chews, the less saliva they'll produce.

3. Tooth Spacing

Another important role of primary teeth is to hold spaces for the adult teeth beneath them. Without the guidance of surrounding teeth, a tooth that falls out naturally won't grow up nice and straight. Instead, it could slant one way or another, thus crowding other teeth around it and causing them to grow into incorrect positions, too.

When teeth become crowded and pushed together in this manner, they're harder to clean properly. This can lead to even more tooth decay, and more cases of crooked or misaligned teeth. 

How A Crown Comes Into Play

If your dentist has recommended a dental crown for your child, it's because the tooth it is to be placed on is too damaged to benefit from a filling, cap, or veneer. A dental crown will cover the entire damaged primary tooth, taking the place of the natural tooth in every way. A dental crown will allow your child to create the proper speech sounds for their age, work to chew food up as efficiently as any natural tooth, and hold a nice, tidy spot in the mouth for the adult tooth waiting beneath it.

Thanks to advancements in dental technology, crowns can be placed in a single day, and they don't have to be metal -- they come in ceramic and ceramic-covered metal to match the appearance of the rest of your child's teeth. The crown will fall out along with the natural tooth when the natural tooth is good and ready to fall out, but by then it will have done every job it was intended to do.

If your child's dentist has recommended a crown and you're wondering if the procedure is really necessary since the tooth will fall out soon anyway, the answer is yes, it really is. Primary teeth serve plenty of purposes that greatly affect your child's well-being. For more information about crown placement, contact a company like Pittsburgh Dental Spa.

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20 November 2015

Improving My Dental Appointments

After dealing with a few root canals, I realized that it was time to take my dental hygiene a more seriously. I talked with my dentist about what I could do differently, and he was full of great suggestions that would help. He walked me through different ways to brush, floss, and take care of tartar buildup, and it was really amazing to see the difference that it made. I also started taking a fluoride supplement to strengthen my enamel. When I made it to my next appointment, my dentist was blown away with the improvement. This blog is all about improving your dental appointments by keeping your teeth healthier.