My Child Needs A Root Canal?? No WAY!

My assistant reminded me that I need to give her a new monthly article so she can translate it.
This one is for the Bi-Daily Sun Japanese Newspaper. I get a personal happy kick out of seeing my face with the article. I can't read Japanese but it's still fun to flip the newspaper open to see myself smiling back at me! Kekeke!

This month's article is on baby root canals. Enjoy and hope parents out there learn something new! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know or you can always ask your own dentist as well.

Dear Diary….  My Child Needs a Root Canal?

Dear Diary….  I received a text message that put a frown on my face. It was from Mr S. His whole family are patients at my dental office.  He was out of town with his family and his 7 year old daughter had a toothache.  They took her to the local dentist. After an exam and an xray, the dentist said she needed a baby root canal. Mr S got worried and called me to see what was going on. A root canal on a baby tooth? Isn't this the same tooth I did a filling on a few months ago? Is a baby root canal the same as an adult root canal? Is it really necessary?

There is no age limit for a root canal treatment. A root canal may be needed when a baby tooth has been hurt from a fall or from an infection.  A few months ago, I had cleaned out a very deep cavity on his daughter but because the decay was very close to the nerve, I told Mr S that the tooth may end up dying in the future. His daughter was having a bad toothache in that tooth now.

A bad toothache is a good indication that the nerve is dying. Once the nerve dies, it becomes infected.  If a toothache is related to eating or drinking something cold or hot, eating or drinking something sweet or acidic, the tooth most likely can be repaired with a filling. Once the pain is constant or throbbing, this can mean that the decay has become worse and gotten closer to the nerve. Another indication of needing a root canal may be the change of color of a tooth. The color may vary from pink to red to brown to grey or even black. There may or may not be pain in this case.

The filling of a baby root canal is also different from that of an adult tooth. A baby tooth’s roots will be resorbed as the adult tooth grows so the baby root canal filling material will need to be absorbed at that later time.

If the infection of a baby tooth has become too advanced, the baby tooth may need to be removed. Losing a baby tooth early may lead to other problems in the future like crooked teeth. 

Root canal treatment on a baby tooth is a much better choice for a child than removing the tooth if possible. Having a baby tooth in place with a root canal will help the child keep full function of all their teeth, jaws and tongue. It will prevent speech problems, eating and chewing problems and helps guide the adult tooth underneath into its proper position.

My little 7 year old patient was very well behaved in new dentist’s chair. Not even needing laughing gas for her injection. Her tooth was saved with a baby root canal in 1 hour. I’m glad that it turned out fine. I called them later that day to see how she was doing. Her dad told me that it went well. But even though she was OK at the other dental office; she wanted to come back to seeing me because she said I always have funny stories to tell her. That put a smile on my face!