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620 California Blvd Suite G, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401Located in the California Medical Center

Pulp Therapy – San Luis Obispo, CA

Gentle Root Canals for Kids and Little Teeth

Does My Child Need Pulp Therapy?

pediatric dentist examining a child’s teeth

At Coastal Pediatric Dentistry, we believe that natural teeth are important to save, which is why we often recommend pulp therapy for patients who have experienced a deeper cavity or tooth trauma like a fracture or crack. In some cases, but not necessarily all, the child may be in pain as a result of their underlying issue, but root canals for kids address the problem and relieve pain. Without pulp therapy, damaged permanent and baby teeth would be prematurely lost.

The Pulp Therapy Process

a child undergoing pulp therapy

Before beginning any treatment, we first will make sure your child is perfectly comfortable. We can provide any form of sedation to calm nerves or make sitting still more feasible if necessary.

When we identify a tooth that needs to be treated, we decide between two types of procedures: pulpotomy and pulpectomy. A pulpotomy entails removing only the affected part of the pulp and sealing the rest of the tooth. This approach often works for more minor instances of damage or decay. More similar to a normal root canal, a pulpectomy involves taking out the entire pulp, cleaning the inner chamber of the tooth, and restoring it with a dental crown.

The Benefits of Getting Pulp Therapy

group of little kids smiling

For kids, there are many positive things about saving natural teeth, whether primary or permanent. Although baby teeth eventually come out to make room for their adult counterparts, these tiny teeth enable your child to bite and chew their food. Also, if a baby tooth is lost too early, the permanent teeth still developing in the jawbone can line up incorrectly, causing more complicated orthodontic issues when they finally erupt. Fortunately, pulp therapy allows us to preserve primary teeth until they naturally come out of your child’s mouth.

Your child’s permanent teeth are intended to last their entire lifetime, so if decay or damage has crippled the tooth, we will make every effort to rescue it for the long term with a root canal.