Why do dentists now have to preform dental work on childrens baby teeth?!

Why do dentists now have to preform dental work on childrens baby teeth?

I had to take my kid to the dentist and i know its been a long time since i was a kid, but when i was his age i thought they would just pull em. Now the dentist said that my son had 3 small cavities, and 2 (baby root canals) on his baby teeth. I dont know what the heck that means or how the heck he got em concidering he gets his teeth brushed everyday. I asked the dentist to just pull the ones with the root canals, and fix the others, but he said that pulling is a bad idea. I saw the bill and it was quite high. And the insurance only covers 60% on root canals (how conveinient). I asked him how much it would cost me if they were pulled and he wouldnt tellme, but just repeated how bad it would be for the big teeth. I feel they just want to charge money for no reason other then to lace their pockets with money. Anybody else have info or feel the same way.

Root canals and stain steel crowns are very common in the deciduous teeth of small children, even at the age of 3 or 4. The main purpose of this is to restore the teeth involved, getting the child out of pain, maintaining "this space" that is extremely important since it retains the needed space for the permanent tooth’s formation that is taking place and to erupt into, also keeping this tooth allows for the arch growth to continue at a normal pattern. There is more to it than just "lining" the dentist pocket; it's for the Childs best interest. Years ago, these teeth were just extracted and not given at thought about. Later, the child would have major dental problems such as; growth of the arches being too small, over bites and under bites, malaligned teeth and crowding. All of which I'm sure you don't want to have to repair with surgery or orthodontic treatment later.

Also removing decay and placing fillings to restore the deciduous teeth so they can remain for the years needed maintaining the space for development, is common in small children. Leaving decay to continue to destroy the Childs teeth is what leads to needing root canals and stainless steel crowns work preformed on small children.

Children should be seen by a dentist at least by age three, some say at a year old but I think three is fine myself. Parents need to supervise the child’s brushing technique twice a day and always follow up with checking and re-brushing areas missed by them. Also the drinks before bed should be only of water after brushing before bed, it’s the sugary milk or the acid in juices, that coats the teeth that adds to decay. There are many other things that I could bring up, but I’ll leave all of that to your dentist.

Over the years we have learned the reasons as to why so many dental problems have occurred and how to prevent them from happening to children now. Your dentist is trying to educate you and help your child so that these problems don’t happen to them. What seems expensive now with the needed work is nothing compared to what the repairs later will cost. Take my advice, trust your dentist to take care of you and your family’s dental health. Good luck and I hope I’ve been of some assistance.

Additional information: Root canals of deciduous teeth are similar to adult root canals but not as tedious or complicated. The same thing has occured though, the decay has reached the nerve of the tooth and the nerve must be removed to maintain the tooth. The tooth is opened from the top, a medication is placed in the tooth to kill off bacteria, then a filling is placed and the tooth is prepped for a stainless steel crown, with is cemented on permanently for the duration of the life of this tooth.