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What is pulp therapy?

We often recommend pulp therapy for children who have experienced a dental injury or severe tooth decay. The pulp is located in the center of your child’s tooth; it consists of connective tissues, nerves, and blood vessels. When the pulp is damaged or exposed, this causes intense pain and inflammation. In adult patients, we usually remove the pulp if it’s damaged. However, children whose teeth are still developing need to keep their tooth’s pulp when possible to help the tooth properly develop.

Signs your child needs pulp therapy

There are a few common signs that indicate your child needs pulp therapy:


They have a throbbing toothache that doesn’t subside


An intense toothache that refuses to go away may be caused by damage to a tooth’s sensitive, nerve-rich pulp.


Their tooth color changes


If the color of your child’s tooth darkens, this indicates that the tooth has experienced nerve trauma that’s causing it to turn brown or gray.


They have swelling around the tooth


Swelling around a damaged tooth usually indicates that the tooth is infected.


Procedures for pulp therapy


There are a couple of different treatments that we use to address damaged pulp:


Pulpotomy


During a pulpotomy, we remove the portion of your child’s pulp that’s above the gum line. We can perform a pulpotomy on damaged permanent and baby teeth to reduce pain related to an inflamed pulp.


Pulpectomy


If the damage to your child’s tooth extends to the roots, we can treat it with a pulpectomy. A pulpectomy removes all the pulp from your child’s tooth. We can use a pulpectomy to save a damaged baby tooth. Though your child will eventually lose their baby teeth, these teeth need to remain in place until your child is naturally ready to lose them. Otherwise, your child’s teeth can shift positions and create spacing issues in their mouth.


Once we’ve used pulp therapy to treat your child’s damaged pulp, we’ll restore and strengthen the tooth by fitting it with a crown.

What are the benefits?

Pulp therapy has severe benefits for your child:


Relieves their pain


Severe pulp infection can cause pain, swelling, and sensitivity to hot and cold foods. Pulp therapy fixes the damaged pulp to alleviate your child’s discomfort.


Improves their oral health


An inflamed, infected tooth can spread infection throughout your child’s mouth and to their other teeth, impacting your child’s oral health. Pulp therapy helps save the tooth and ensures that it doesn’t affect any of your child’s other teeth or oral tissues.


Helps them keep their tooth


Without pulp therapy, we may need to extract your child’s damaged tooth. A missing tooth puts your child at risk of having their other teeth shift or experiencing problems speaking and eating properly.


Pulp Therapy in Queens & Brooklyn, NY - Downtown Braces & Children's Dentistry

Pulp Therapy, Queens & Brooklyn, New York

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Pulp therapy focuses on treating and restoring a tooth with a damaged or inflamed pulp.

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