Our restorative material of choice is a composite or white filling. We have found these fillings not only to look good, but also to be strong. Using this material allows us to prepare the tooth in such a way where we remove just the decay of the tooth and nothing more as we often did with old silver fillings. The end result is a filling completed with the minimal amount of tooth structure removed, leaving it more solid and structurally sound.

There are times in treatment where it may be necessary to prepare the tooth for other types of restorations. Often times we see decay so extensive that when all the decay is removed we find that we need to place a crown on that tooth. Just as an adult would receive a crown on a severely broken down permanent tooth.

If this should be the case in your child's tooth than we may need to place a stainless steel crown, (which will come out when the baby tooth falls out ). If the decay is extensive there is a possibility that we may need to do a pulpotomy (baby root canal ) in order to save that tooth. It is very important to restore and save every tooth so that will ensure proper eruption of the permanent tooth.