Removing the decay and placing the filling on your childs tooth | Dental Treatment Guide


Children may be very frightened if they find out they require a fillings thanks to horror stories about drills and pain. However, you can help control the anxiety surrounding dental fillings if you inform your child of the process. This article has been composed to try and help you be aware of the facts concerning the removal or tooth decay and application of a filling in the tooth of a child.

Firstly, your child will be given a gel or ointment, which is rubbed directly onto a particular area in the mouth. This is an anaesthetic that works to numb the area prior to further numbing with an injection of local anaesthetic. Therefore, your child will hopefully have a sufficiently numb mouth so the procedure can be carried out on a relatively pain-free way. However, if your child is especially nervous then they may also be given some kind of sedative.

Once your child has been administered the local anaesthetic, the dentist will then position a piece of latex that is known as a rubber dam. This is applied to keep the tooth requiring treatment separate from the other teeth, although it is not always used. This dam is also available in materials other than latex if your child happens to be allergic. There are a number of advantages associated with the use of a rubber dam during the filling procedure. Primarily, it acts to provide protection to the rest of the mouth throughout the treatment. It also keeps the area relatively dry by isolating it from saliva, this is important to ensure the filling is efficiently and strongly fixed.

The majority of dental fillings are done using a drill, which can be rather daunting for your child. There is a more innovative method of removing tooth decay, however, using a process referred to as air abrasion. These two processes are employed to get rid of tooth decay and to subsequently shape the tooth so it is an appropriate profile for the application of the filling.

If the filling being used is plastic then it has got to be attached to the tooth in a series of layers. After each layer is applied, it must be solidified using a specialised intense light, which adds to the length of time it takes to perform a plastic filling compared to a metal one.

Regardless as to the composition of your child's filling, whether it is metal or plastic, it must be left to harden. Once this is done, the rubber dam will be taken away and the dentist will require your child to bite down on to a specialised material. This allows the dentist to just your child's bite with the new filling. They will analyse the bite and reshape the filling if it is necessary.

Further Information Childrens Dental Treatments