You’re responsible for keeping your child healthy even before he or she is born, and teaching the right habits from an early age can set your child up for a healthy life. Sometimes this means more than seeing the doctor and the cosmetic dentist serving Park Ridge, and you might need specialty dental services. Pediatric endodontics deals with children’s pulp, which impacts their health and comfort. You should know when to bring your child to the endodontist, what types of procedures can be done, and how to recover afterwards. Continue reading to put the spotlight on pediatric endodontics.

When to Seek Treatment

Understanding when something is wrong and when it’s time to visit the dental office for help is part of practicing proper dental care. Since a young child won’t have the capacity to understand the signs of oral health issues, it’s your job to pay extra attention. Your child won’t understand oral health problems, but he or she will be able to communicate pain. If you notice that your child has a toothache or experiences sensitivity to temperature, consider taking a trip to the dental office. Head to the dental office immediately if you can see pulp in your child’s broken tooth.

Treatment Options

Your dental care professional can recommend 2 types of endodontic treatment for kids: vital and non-vital pulp therapy. Vital pulp therapy comes in 4 different forms, and all of them aim to remove from the crown but not the root. In contrast, your endodontist will remove the pulp entirely through non-vital pulp therapy—this is also called root canal therapy. Root canal therapy can treat both children and adults, and it’s typically used when the pulp has already suffered too much damage to save.

Handling the Aftermath

Dental care is equally important before and after your treatment, so be sure to keep up with your child’s oral health after returning from the dental office. If your child seems to be in pain after undergoing an endodontic procedure, you can use over the counter painkillers to alleviate the pain, but talk to the dentist if the pain continues.