Kids With Silver Teeth: Is It Okay?

May 10, 2021

Contents

1 Tooth Decay Solutions
2 Dental Filling
- 2.1 How to Perform Dental Fillings for Kids
3 Dental Crowns
4 Kids With Silver Teeth: The Dental Crown Placement Procedure
- - 4.0.1 References:

Baby teeth cannot be exempted from tooth decay, no matter how much we as parents wish to protect and conserve their pearly whites. Come to think of it, keeping our teeth clean and healthy is hard enough, what more if you are helping a little one take care of their teeth. One way or another, harmful plaque and tartar may appear and, if left untreated, these can cause tooth decay. But, why use silver crowns on kids if their tooth decay worsens?

Tooth Decay Solutions

The goal of pediatric dentistry is to have your child develop straight and healthy adult teeth. They can have this if their baby teeth’ condition is preserved. Premature extraction of a baby tooth, for example, affects the spacing of the teeth in preparation for the adult ones, increasing the chances of overcrowding or malocclusion. Tooth decay, therefore, should be corrected before the problems progress and warrant tooth extraction.

Dental Filling

Tooth decay is a product of a longstanding bacterial infection on the tooth enamel. Once the bacteria invade the inside part of your pearly whites, your tooth decay would start to worsen. This may lead to further infection and more complicated diseases. So, a pediatric dentist would recommend solving the problem at once. One of the easiest dental procedures to address tooth decay is dental filling.

Dental fillings stop food debris and other bacteria from entering the innermost parts of the damaged tooth, acting as the replacement tooth surface that the germs damaged. Because many kids experience tooth decay at a very early age, solving them as soon as your pediatric dentist sees it is key for a better prognosis.

How to Perform Dental Fillings for Kids

Before patching up the hole made by the bacteria from your child’s plaque or tartar buildup, her pediatric dentist would first clean and remove the decayed part of the tooth. He may use local anesthesia to make sure that your child remains comfortable and pain-free.

Once the dentist clears away the broken part, he then fills the hole with a tooth-colored composite resin or amalgam material. Polishing and smoothing the edges of the affected tooth would ensure that the solution is effective and would not affect your baby’s eating habits and comfort.

Dental Crowns

If fillings cannot easily cover the decayed part of the tooth, pediatric dentists may opt to perform dental crown placement. This may happen if, for example, the affected tooth has two sides with plaque; it would not be enough just to do dental fillings. The tooth may decay again, and the fillings may easily break. The best solution your dentist would recommend would entail using dental crowns

Your dentist may opt to use stainless steel crowns or porcelain ones. The steel crowns look like silver caps that can cover the whole tooth. On the other hand, if you use porcelain crowns, you have the option to find the right color that imitates the shade of your child’s teeth. This easily conceals any dental issues that your child may have.

Pediatric dentists can complete the application of dental crowns for children in one visit. These crowns tend to work and perform their functions in replacing the broken tooth until the tooth falls out at around the age of 7 to 12, depending on what tooth is affected.

Pros and Cons of Dental Crowns

If this is the preferred dental procedure for your child’s tooth decay, are kids with silver teeth safe from this solution? Here are the benefits and downsides that can happen with porcelain, silver, or stainless steel crowns.

Pros:

Durability. Stainless steel crowns do not easily crack, so as longs as kids watch what they put in their mouth, these crowns can last until their tooth falls out.

Affordability. Although dental fillings are less expensive, the probability of fillings being dislodged and fail is higher, making you have yours replaced more often than dental crowns. With these silver teeth replacements, you can save time and money wisely.

Convenience. Pediatric dentists can perform the procedure in one sitting, allowing parents and children to complete the solution as soon as possible, hassle-free.

Cons:

Easy detection. The truth is, many people find kids with silver teeth unsightly. It may be a preference issue, but silver teeth are mostly associated with elderly people and are used as permanent missing teeth replacements. Seeing kids with silver teeth may have a negative impact on the parent’s ability to care for their child’s dental and overall health and well-being.

Easy breakage. Unlike silver or stainless steel crowns, porcelain crowns are as fragile as thin ceramic shells that may easily break or chip. And because they are tooth-colored, they may also become stained depending on the food and drinks your child consumes.

High maintenance. Pediatric dentists would require the parents and the child patient to give their 100% cooperation to ensure the efficiency of their dental crowns. Negligence and inability to limit hard or chewy food can easily damage the integrity of your child’s crowns.

Kids With Silver Teeth: The Dental Crown Placement Procedure

As with an adult dental crown procedure, your child’s dentist needs to make sure that no decayed part of the tooth remains before the crown placement. Your child’s dentist must choose the right-sized crown, decide whether its material is composed of ceramic, silver, or stainless steel, fit it precisely to the tooth, and glue it in place.

Getting a stainless steel crown is a usual procedure all over the world as a go-to treatment procedure for tooth decay. Naturally, local anesthesia may be used for pediatric crown placement, although additional sedation options sound possible. Nitrous oxide, also called “laughing gas”, is a safe and mild choice for anxious or scared children of dental procedures.

After the treatment, your child’s pediatric dentist recommends that your child should avoid eating first until the anesthesia wears off. If your child exhibits pain or sensitivity, the dentist may recommend an over-the-counter medicine to address any discomfort after the procedure.

You can go to this website to see more dental tips and advice for your kids.