Please advice between root canal and extraction of teeth for 2.5 year old kid?!

Please advice between root canal and extraction of teeth for 2.5 year old kid?

My 2.5 daughter damaged her front tooth and it has turned dirty brown in colour. The gum above the tooth is swollen. I have taken opinion from two child dentists. One advised root canal and other advised extraction. I am confused on what path of treatment I must follow. Appreciate an early response.

It has turned dark and the tissue is swollen due to the trauma that has caused the nerve to die in this tooth causing an abscess to develop. With a child this young, it's not a question to be asked unless you‘ve waited too long to have proper treatment preformed. This tooth needs root canal therapy to retain it until its shed by the eruption of her permanent tooth. Years ago when something like this happened, the tooth was extracted and not given a second thought. We know better now.

This tooth will need to remain functional for quite a few more years; it aids in maintaining the space in the arch for the eruption of the permanent teeth, also in the development of her arch and facial bone growth, which at this age will be going through a lot of growth over the next few years. There is a good possibility that the permanent tooth won’t erupt if this tooth is removed this early.

The deciduous dentition is there for a reason; to aid in the bone and arch formation, to hold the position or work as a guide for the eruption of the permanent teeth that are forming now but won’t be in for many years. Do get your child out of the pain that this abscess is causing with an antibiotic treatment, and then have the root canal therapy and crown for the child‘s optimal dental health.

You can have it extracted but your child “will” have years of dental treatment correcting the damage this extraction causes by needing a palatal expander, flap surgery to uncover the permanent tooth and years of orthodontic treatment to pull the tooth in and correct the mal alignment caused to the rest of the teeth. You should also consider that there will be a lot of photos over the next few years without a front tooth and then later with crowded malaligned teeth when the others are shed and the permanent ones erupt. All that can be avoided if you get the correct treatment now by having the root canal and crown procedure completed.

I would strongly advise having the root canal and crown placed now. The root canals and crowns for deciduous teeth aren’t anything like an adult root canal therapy and crown procedure. This is done all in one visit in under an hour at the most, and is pain free by use of N20, topical anesthetic and local administered anesthetic. The tooth is anesthetized and then opened from the top or occlusal surface, a medicated pellet is placed on the pulp or nerve to disinfect it, once cleaned a medicated filling material is placed and the tooth is prepped and a prefabricated crown is cemented. You should have your child on antibiotics now so that the infection will be under control allowing the anesthetic to work when used.

I hope that I’ve given you reason to reconsider and discuss this with a pediatric dentist who can address and treat this dental problem and help you to help your child that is in pain, and understand that this will not treat itself or just go away over time. This is a decision that you will need to make and I hope it’s one that will benefit your child and you for all the years to come. Good luck.

Additional information: As I stated earlier a pedo root canal therapy is very different and much easier on a child than an adult root canal therapy. But, this procedure should also be performed by a pediatric dentist or one who works with only children or very well with them, so that the child will be treated in such as manner that dental phobias or fears will not be a factor in her later years of treatment. Here is a site that will give you the approximate eruption age of all teeth that has information that may also help you with your decision.

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/dental-...