Although milk teeth are a wonderful manifestation of nature that helps children learn to chew, speak and smile, it carries a series of risks that can affect permanent teeth.
For one thing, infant teeth, also known as deciduous or primary teeth, are extremely prone to cavities. On the other hand, as is known, it is temporary and will be replaced by a permanent denture, starting at the age of six.
Two main drawbacks derive from these particularities: caries can affect the aesthetics of the child, cause pain and cause premature loss of one or more teeth, as a result of which it leaves a gap that makes the emergence of adult teeth imprecise.
Note that the 20 baby teeth are replaced by 32 permanent teeth and that the premature loss of an infant tooth can cause the teeth that come in later to become crooked or crowded.
To avoid these inconveniences, it is important that parents are taking their children to specialized consultation and, if necessary, resort to children’s dental treatments.
Hence the importance of parents having a basic idea of the most common dental treatments that we offer in Costa Rica. Among them are:
- Pulpotomy: Treatment to remove the part of the pulp that has been affected. A pulp agent is applied to the remaining tissue to preserve its function without symptoms of pain or inflammation.
- Pulpectomy: Treatment for young children, with the aim of preserving a baby tooth that has been affected by a very large cavity.
- Exodontia: It consists of the extraction of a tooth. It is used as a last option, when it is not possible to resort to restorative treatment and the medium and long-term prognosis is limited.
- Dental resins: They are aesthetic restorations of the teeth. They can be used on damaged or decayed teeth, with resins the color of natural teeth.
- Amalgam: It is obtained from the alloy of mercury with other metals, such as copper, zinc, silver, tin or gold, and is used to restore decayed teeth.
- Space maintainers: Fixed or removable devices used to maintain the space left by one or more teeth. They are a preventive orthodontics to avoid future problems in the permanent dentition.
- 4×2 orthodontics: It only consists of placing brackets on the four front teeth and the first two molars on both sides.
- Ulectomy: Procedure to free the way to the permanent tooth so that it can occupy its corresponding position in the dental arch. Ulectomy is also called “surgical eye.”
- The operculectomy: It is a quick and simple procedure that is performed in order to remove part of the gingiva (gingiva) where it is needed.
- Prophylaxis: It is a hygiene method that has the purpose of eliminating tartar or calcified plaque that is attached to the teeth and that is not accessible to the toothbrush.
- Fluoride applications: They are a resource to prevent future dental caries injuries. The application of fluoride is a simple procedure and does not cause discomfort to children.
- Applications of fluoride varnish: It consists of the application of an enamel on the teeth, in order to prevent cavities and stop the one that has already begun to form. It also helps reduce the risk of tooth enamel loss from microorganisms.
- Slice cuts of deciduous canines: These are small abrasions in the tooth enamel made to handle discrepancies between teeth and bone.
- Progeo: Method to intercept the malocclusion of permanent teeth, during mixed dentition.
- Acrylic prostheses fixed by means of a band: Its function is very important to help children and boys to regain masticatory function and to prevent the establishment of malocclusions, during the time when the dentition presents radical changes due to the growth and development of dental arches.
At Cero Caries Costa Rica we are preparing to provide the best dental treatments for children and we conceived a special collaboration plan for children with limited resources.
Get to know our project and acquire the membership that suits you best. We are in Heredia, Costa Rica.