Preventing Painful Cavities

Whenever engaging in dental care for children, it is important to engage in a softer approach and focus on doing less, rather than more. The same is true for whitening your child's smile. The tooth pulp is not fully formed until your child has reached at least 14 years of age. The permanent teeth that come in after the baby teeth often look more yellow, but this is considered to be normal.

If you have a tooth, or several teeth missing in your mouth, dental implant technology may be the answer. Through the use of a titanium implant and a dental crown made of synthetic material, your dentist will be able to replace any missing teeth with a natural looking tooth. Your dentist will want to know if you are a smoker, or if you are struggling with gum disease, as both can prevent you from getting dental implants.

Even though you need to see a dentist if an emergency dental problem arises, there are steps you can take to prevent permanent tooth damage. In many cases, you may help save your tooth if you know how to handle a dental emergency until you can get professional dental care. Knocked Out or Broken Tooth If one of your teeth gets knocked out, you need to see a dentist as quickly as possible—preferably within 30 minutes after the incident happens.

If you have cracked one of your back teeth, then your dentist may want to restore your smile by securing a crown in your mouth. While porcelain crowns are desirable for the front teeth, you may not mind a gold crown on one of your molars. Gold crowns are sometimes a good option, so if your dentist suggests that a gold crown be placed in your mouth, consider the benefits of a gold one.

If you've always despised how your smile looks due to having a missing or discolored tooth, you should highly consider the benefits of getting a dental crown installed. All-porcelain dental crowns look just like natural teeth and are highly recommended by many dentists as a result. They cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 each depending on where you live, but they give you the opportunity to customize how the crowns will look.

Traditional braces are typically placed on a child's teeth by the age of 14. This occurs because children typically have most of their permanent teeth by this age, and braces are more effective when placed on permanent teeth. There are times, though, when children begin receiving orthodontic treatment when they still have most of their primary teeth. If your child has not yet developed his or her permanent teeth but needs orthodontic work, here are a few things you should know.

Wisdom teeth, also known as the third molars, typically erupt somewhere in the late teens or early adult years. In many cases, instead of coming in properly, they end up either impacted or crooked, causing trouble with the jaw line. In other situations, there may not be enough room in the jaw to allow them to come in properly. If either of these situations is true for you, it'll be important for you to have those teeth extracted.

Regular checkups and cleanings are imperative for protecting the look and health of your child's teeth. However, certain issues may affect the development of your child's smile even with proper dental care and good oral hygiene. While surprising to hear, crossbites affect 1 to 16 percent of children with their baby teeth, and 50 to 90 percent of posterior crossbites remain an issue even after developing permanent teeth. Proper understanding of this dental condition is smart for correcting your child's smile.