Looking for state-of-the-art dentistry for your kids in Englewood, NJ? East Madison Dental uses our advanced technologies and decades of experience to care for smiles of all ages, pediatric patients included! When your child needs a preventive exam, tooth repair, gentle extraction, or anything else, you can trust the same Englewood dental team that keeps your smile healthy.
Our pediatric dental services in Englewood, NJ include:
Preventive Dentistry for Kids
Optimal oral hygiene, a healthy diet, and maintaining regular dental visits starting at age one or the eruption of a child's first tooth, are all critical components of maintaining a lifetime of healthy smiles.
Choosing in-office preventive treatments at our Englewood dental office, including strengthening mineral treatments and dental sealants, are safe, easy ways to protect natural teeth and help keep cavities away. Even though baby teeth are normally replaced by permanent teeth, it's important for them to fall out naturally for optimal growth and development of your child's smile.
Custom-Fitted Athletic Mouthguards
Custom-fitted sports mouthguards can eliminate or reduce unwanted traumatic injuries to the teeth (such as fractures and dislocations) and surrounding tissues during collision and contact sports. Ask your dentist about fabricating a custom-fitted mouthguard to provide optimal protection for your child's athletic activity!
Dental Fillings for Kids
Smaller cavities in the primary or baby teeth are often restored with dental fillings. The traditional material is made of silver amalgam and can be used for teeth in the back of the mouth where isolation from fluids may be more challenging. A tooth-colored material called composite is made of resin and powdered glass fillers and provides a natural-looking appearance. Both types of fillings are ultra-durable and can resist heavy forces.
An alternative material is glass ionomer or resin-modified glass ionomer. Although less durable than resin and amalgam, the silicate glass-powder material has the advantage of slowly releasing fluoride over time. This can help patients who are at high risk because it can provide a great seal while preventing the surroundings from future cavities. They can also be used as sealants and temporary restorations or used with atraumatic restorative techniques.
Silver Diamine Treatment
Silver diamine treatment (SDF) is approved to treat dentin sensitivity and is effectively used as a caries-arresting agent when indicated. While the silver ions in silver diamine treatment act as an antimicrobial, the fluoride ions act mainly on the tooth structure to promote remineralization and slow down the progression of a cavity or halt it completely. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) supports the use of SDF, and our team at East Madison Dental Englewood is proud to offer this treatment to our young patients!
The benefits of SDF application can outweigh its possible undesirable effects in patients who may present with behavior or medical management challenges, an incipient lesion (the beginning of a cavity in the outer tooth layer called the enamel), or due to parental preference (for example to delay restorative treatment for when a child is older). SDF is not to be used in patients with a silver allergy.
ART/SMART
For the anxious pediatric patient, your dentist can apply the atraumatic restorative technique (ART) for smaller cavities in both the primary and permanent teeth. ART allows a restoration to be completed without the use of handpieces and often without the injection of local anesthetics. Instead, hand instruments are used to remove most of the decalcified tooth structure before placing glass ionomer.
When SDF is used with ART, it is called silver modified atraumatic restorative technique (SMART). This technique first treats the cavity with SDF to help arrest the decay before filling the tooth with glass ionomer. Since SDF stains the tooth black, the tooth may appear grey under the filling.
Dental Crowns for Children
Preformed metal crowns, also known as stainless steel crowns, are the restoration of choice for primary molars that have extensive cavities. The AAPD recommends stainless steel dental crowns for teeth receiving pulpal treatment where the caries extended into the pulp tissues. Stainless-steel dental crowns are also supported in children who have high caries-risk due to its proven longevity. After the decay is removed by your Englewood pediatric dentist, your child's dental crown will be fitted then cemented in place.
Strip Crowns
Strip crowns are full coronal restorations composed of a white filling. It is indicated for decayed primary incisor teeth when the cavity is present on multiple surfaces or if there is loss of tooth structure that involves the edge of the tooth. It provides great esthetics but requires cooperative behavior for better results. It is important to avoid biting on the restored incisors to prevent chipping of the restoration.
Dental Extractions
Sometimes, when a child has experienced a dental abscess, swelling, or loss of too much tooth structure, a child's primary tooth is typically unable to be saved and requires a gentle tooth extraction. Sometimes this may also be the case for permanent teeth if root canal treatment cannot be performed for the patient.
Most of the time, primary teeth can be wiggled out safely at home with clean hands. If however, the adult teeth are ectopic or coming in an abnormal position then your dentist can help extract the primary tooth to allow proper eruption of the permanent teeth or refer the child to an orthodontist if more movement of teeth is required.
Orthodontic Appliances
Space maintainers are metal appliances that can be used to prevent greater space loss when primary teeth are lost prematurely. This can be a band and loop when a single primary molar in the back of the mouth is missing. A bilateral appliance (such as a nance or lower lingual holding arch) that extends across both sides of the mouth may be indicated when multiple teeth are missing.
These appliances will be cemented on the existing back teeth until the permanent tooth erupts into the adjacent space or possibly until the child is ready to begin orthodontic treatment. It is especially important for children to have proper oral health care at home, and an appropriate diet to maintain their healthiest smile and keep oral appliances from breaking.
Habit Appliances
Non-nutritive sucking habits (such as thumb or finger sucking and pacifier use) are a normal part of early development but can become problematic if prolonged. Habits are recommended to be discontinued by age 2. However, when they persist beyond age 4 or 5, there is an unfavorable impact on the growth of the teeth and dentoalveolar structures surrounding the teeth. Such results can also be seen with tongue thrusting, a habit when the tongue rests in the wrong position during swallowing.
At around age 7 when the permanent teeth have erupted, and a child agrees to stop the habit, a habit appliance such as a tongue crib can be offered as an alternative treatment option, especially if patients were unsuccessful at outgrowing the habit on their own. A habit appliance acts by blocking the tongue. With additional home exercises, it can retrain the tongue muscle. It may need to stay in the mouth for at least 12 months to completely break the habit and prevent relapse.
Emergency Dental Treatment for Kids
Childhood dental emergencies and injuries are common. Some common causes of a dental emergency can be food impaction (when food gets stuck in or around the teeth), swollen gums, tooth decay, wiggly tooth, tooth eruption, tooth fracture, trauma, or dental abscess or infection.
Laughing Gas Sedation for Kids
Mild sedation dentistry at East Madison Dental Englewood can be safely achieved for slightly anxious children (and adults) using laughing gas. It can make the patient happy and giggly. It can also be called “ice cream air” because of its sweet smell. It is breathed in together with oxygen by wearing a mask over the nose and helps your child feel more relaxed while staying awake. After treatment is completed, 100% oxygen is breathed in and the nitrogen levels are returned to normal with no residual effects.
Higher levels of sedation (with oral or IV conscious sedation, or general anesthesia) may be needed if your child requires extensive treatment, is extremely anxious, is medically compromised or has special needs.
Schedule Your Child's Next Dentist Appointment
Our pediatric dentist and team are here to make your child's dental experience as comfortable and stress-free as possible! Contact us today to schedule your child's next dentist appointment.
