08/26/2025
The baby teeth are going to fall out anyway, is it really even necessary to treat the cavity? This is a common question we hear from parents when they discover their children have cavities. The answer is that, left untreated, cavities in baby teeth can become an extremely BIG DEAL leading to pain, infection, and long term dental issues (including crooked teeth and bite problems). Hereโs why:
๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ก
The longer you wait to treat those cavities, the greater the chance that bacteria (sugar bugs as we like to call them) will affect other teeth. As children begin losing baby teeth, they enter a phase where they have both permanent and milk teeth. If baby teeth have untreated cavities, that bacteria can spread to permanent teeth and could โmake holesโ in them as well.
๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ก
Baby teeth differ from permanent teeth because their enamel (the thick outer white covering we see) is much thinner. Cavities tend to grow and spread much faster than they do in permanent teeth.
๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ก
Losing a baby tooth before it should naturally fall out can cause problems for the permanent teeth. It can lead to space loss in the childโs mouth, misalignment, or even impaction of the adult tooth. While no one can predict if your child will need braces, preventing early tooth loss will benefit your child in the future.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐?
โขIf a childโs tooth is still in the early stages of decay and has not yet become cavitated, it is sometimes possible to treat without the use of invasive procedures. When this is the case, your childโs dentist will work with you and your child to develop an appropriate tooth decay treatment plan, which may include: preventative measures such as fluoride varnish treatments, dietary modifications, and improved oral hygiene practices.
โขDepending on how far the disease has progressed. A minor cavity in a childโs tooth may be treatable with a simple dental filling, whereas treating a deep cavity may require pediatric pulpotomy or even baby tooth extraction.
โขIf invasive procedures are necessary, keep in mind that, in many cases, it can be difficult or impossible to safely perform such cavity treatments on babies and toddlers without the use of pediatric dental sedation.
Itโs important to remember that while most children have a complete set of primary teeth by the time they are 3, shedding happens between 6 to 7 years of age and continue until about 12 years of age. Leaving untreated bacteria in the mouth for that many years is not a wise choice.
