Dental Procedures

At Hampton Roads Pediatric Dentistry, we offer a variety of dental procedures to protect and restore your child’s beautiful smile. If your child could benefit from one of these services, our pediatric dentist will discuss the treatment with you in detail during your child’s visit.

Filling

A filling is a composite or material that replaces a portion of a decayed or broken tooth. The material used may be gold, porcelain or composite. Composite dental fillings are tooth colored to give a more natural look, which is especially important for front teeth that need fillings.

Crowns

In a primary tooth, if a cavity is too large to restore with a filling, a crown may be recommended. For front teeth, white restorations are used. For back teeth, white or stainless steel crowns are options. The purpose of the crown is to help provide structure for the tooth and to help maintain space for the permanent teeth to erupt properly while protecting the remaining tooth.

Extractions

Sometimes it may be necessary to remove a tooth. It may be necessary as a result of trauma, gum disease, or for orthodontic reasons to correct an improper bite. Whatever the reason may be, our pediatric dentist will discuss the procedure with you.

If your child does need a tooth removed, our pediatric dentist may remove the tooth during the regular appointment or a follow up appointment may be necessary. We will discuss the sedation options with you to ensure your child is as comfortable as possible.

Pulpotomy/Pulpectomy

The pulp of the tooth is the inner, central core of the tooth and contains nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. The purpose of pulp therapy in pediatric dentistry is to maintain the vitality of the affected tooth (so the tooth is not lost). In the past, teeth with infected nerves generally had to be removed. Now, we can save teeth with modern dentistry techniques such as pulp therapy.

Pulp therapy is often referred to as “nerve treatment”, “baby root canal”, “pulpotomy” or “pulpectomy.” A pulpotomy removes the diseased pulp tissue within the crown portion of the tooth. Next, an agent is placed to prevent bacterial growth and to calm the remaining nerve tissue. This is followed by a final restoration (usually a stainless steel crown).

A pulpectomy is required when the entire pulp is involved (in the root canal(s) of the tooth). During this treatment, the diseased pulp tissue is completely removed from both the crown and root. The canals are cleaned, disinfected and in the case of primary teeth, filled with a resorbable material. Then the final restoration is placed.