Ask a Pediatric Dentist: When Should My Child Get a Baby Root Canal?

Once parents learn that their child is in need of baby root canal therapy, they will often have questions. Examples of questions include: Are root canals safe, when are they needed and what happens during a root canal procedure? Asking these questions to a pediatric dentist allows parents to feel more comfortable about this necessary procedure that saves teeth. While some parents may think that saving one of a child’s first set of teeth is not that important, it really is as healthy primary teeth support healthy secondary teeth.

A basic description of root canal therapy is that it requires the removal of the affected tooth’s pulp and then the tooth is covered by a crown to make the tooth stronger. This type of dental procedure thus needs to be performed whenever one of a child’s teeth is inflamed, infected or damaged. Once a tooth is damaged, whether it be due to too much decay or being involved in some type of accident, undergoing a root canal is necessary in order to save the tooth.

If an infected or damaged tooth is not treated in a timely manner, the infection can potentially spread throughout the mouth, as well as throughout the body. If a damaged tooth ends up falling out of a child’s mouth, there is no longer a tooth in place to support the ability for the secondary tooth to grow in properly. Damaged teeth can also cause a child to experience various levels of pain, which can be avoided by their undergoing root canal therapy to improve the overall health of their mouth.