Pediatric Dentistry in Ballwin, MO
Pediatric dentistry is essential to ensuring the development of your child’s healthy teeth.
Why Take Your Child to a Pediatric Dentist?
Pediatric dentists are oral health professionals specialized in children’s dental care. Children grow their baby teeth when they are about six months old and then gradually shed them for their permanent teeth at about age 13. By having a trusted pediatric dentist monitor the development of your child’s teeth, you are ensuring that any potential complication, such as tooth decay, is spotted and cured as soon as it develops.
Children are often afraid of doctors and can end up dreading their routine dentist visits, but in addition to technical training, the pediatric dentists at Baxter Dental Group are equipped with specially-designed equipment and fun strategies that make your child feel comfortable during their dental exam.
Pediatric Dentistry for Children
Children’s tooth development goes through several phases. Most children shed their incisors at age 6, replace their molars between ages 10 to 12, and have grown their full, permanent teeth around age 13. Throughout this long process, it is important to have your child’s teeth evaluated regularly. Our Ballwin pediatric dentists can monitor and treat cavities and other issues as well as repair and correct tooth problems early on to avoid orthodontics later.
Dental Fillings
A dental filling is designed to patch the hole that dental decay has left in the tooth and keep the cavity from becoming larger. Fillings prevent food, plaque, and bacteria from collecting in the empty space and spreading the decay. Our pediatric dentists numb the area with a local anesthetic and remove the decay with a gentle dental drill. A tooth-colored composite resin filling is used to fill in the cavity and the surface is smoothed. Then, the tooth is polished, making the tooth strong and healthy once again!
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are used to save baby teeth that are too damaged to support a filling. They are durable and made to perfectly match the shape of your child’s other teeth. Crowns are used to keep badly decayed or fractured teeth protected and restore the appearance and functionality of your child’s smile. Dental crowns can also protect the teeth of a child at high risk for tooth decay if they have difficulty keeping up with daily oral hygiene. Dental crowns for children will usually last until the tooth falls out.
Preventive Orthodontics
As your child grows, certain teeth problems may become apparent to your pediatric dentist. Preventive orthodontics allows the dentist to catch these oral problems early and help to avoid more aggressive and costlier treatment later on, such as braces. Some of these common tooth problems include:
- Crowding or too much space between teeth
- Overbite or underbite
- Extra teeth
- Missing teeth
- Jaw abnormalities
- Extracted teeth
- Protruding teeth
Expert Tooth Development Knowledge
Besides correcting poorly-developed teeth, our pediatric dentists in Ballwin can also give timely advice on nutrition and oral health habits. Whether your child is struggling with thumb sucking or the effects of a sugar-heavy diet, you can trust our pediatric dentists to provide experienced guidance for your child’s dental health.
Ballwin Pediatric Dentist Office
When it comes to protecting your little one’s smile, nothing but the best family dentist in Ballwin, MO will do. Thanks to our extensive dental experience and high-end equipment, we are confident that our dentists will provide your child with the best dental care. Contact Baxter Dental Group today to see what our Ballwin pediatric dentists can do to improve your child’s dental health!
