What is Pedodontics / Pediatric Dentistry?

This is the department of dentistry that ensures the healthy development and protection of milk teeth and permanent teeth of children between the ages of 0 and 14. It is also called pediatric dentistry.

Children should have their first dental examination at the age of one.

This is the department of dentistry that ensures the healthy development and protection of milk teeth and permanent teeth of children between the ages of 0 and 14. It is also known as pediatric dentistry. WHAT IS A PEDODONTIST? Specialist dentists working in the branch of dentistry dealing with the dental health and treatment of children are called. HOW DO CHILDREN'S TEETH OUT? Milk teeth begin to emerge when the child is six months old and are completed as 10 (20) in the lower and upper jaws at the age of 2.5 years. Milk incisors and milk canines are smaller than permanent teeth. Milk molars are also smaller than permanent molars. As the child grows, the root of the permanent tooth, which is located under the roots of the milk teeth, begins to melt with the effect of eruption; When the root completely melts and only the crown of the tooth remains, the tooth falls out on its own. Pedodontists After graduating from the faculties of dentistry, specialist dentists who have completed their specialization training in the department of pedodontics and are interested in the dental health and treatment of children are called Pedodontist.

A Pleasant Examination Environment

An Environment Where Your Children Can Have Fun Without 'Fear of the Dentist' and Specialized Doctors

What are the pedodontic treatment applications?

Tooth Fillings

Caries causes destruction of teeth and if left untreated, it results in abscess, which also causes pain and infection. After removing the decayed and weakened parts of the tooth, the dentist fills the tooth with tooth-colored filling materials. With the filling, the teeth become functional again, the aesthetic defect caused by the decayed teeth is eliminated, and the feeding of the child becomes easier. By ensuring that the filled primary tooth functions until the time of replacement, the position of the permanent tooth that will come from below is preserved, and therefore, possible tooth crowding can be prevented.

Hairdressing

After removing the decayed and weakened parts of the tooth, capping can be applied to protect the pulp tissue and maintain the vitality of the tooth in cases where it is very close to the pulp (in some cases, a special filling material is temporarily placed in the tooth and permanent filling can be done within 3 weeks-6 months or later).

Amputation (half canal)

It is a form of treatment that aims to remove the crown pulp tissue of the tooth with special tools and to keep the root pulp of the tooth healthy.

Canal treatment

It is the treatment associated with the tissues in the root part of the tooth in order to prevent tooth loss. It is aimed to remove the infected tissue in the root canals and to fill the canals with drugs compatible with physiological root resorption.

Tooth extraction

If the infection in the tooth is too advanced to be treated, extraction is often the best way to prevent further spread of the infection. As a result of not pulling a tooth that needs extraction, these teeth can cause pain, swelling and even bone loss in the jaws. Infected milk teeth that are not extracted can also damage the permanent teeth coming from below.

Apexogenesis or apexification treatments are applied to young permanent teeth whose root tip is not closed due to carious infection or trauma.

Apexogenesis

With the treatment, the vitality of the tooth nerve is preserved and the root development of the tooth continues naturally. This treatment lasts until root development is completed with clinical and radiographic examinations to be made in periodic controls. The patient's sensitivity to hot and cold decreases and disappears during the apexogenesis treatment. In line with the response of the child to the treatment, the treatment plan may turn into apexification treatment.

If the young permanent tooth, which has not completed its root development, loses its vitality due to caries, infection or trauma, apexification treatment is applied in order to complete root development. In this treatment, the continuation of root development is ensured by sending tooth and tissue-friendly substances to the root canals. After apexification treatments, complaints such as pain and swelling in the teeth disappear. During these treatments, local anesthesia is applied to the teeth. Apexification treatments are treatments that require regular control for a long time. In these control sessions, the materials placed in the tooth are renewed if necessary. Pain and swelling may occur. If necessary, medications such as painkillers and antibiotics can be prescribed. Disinfectant drugs can be used during treatment. Root canal treatment is applied to the tooth that has completed the root tip development as a result of the dressings.

Fluorid Applications

Fluoride is an element that prevents tooth decay and strengthens the structure of teeth. Fluoride is found in toothpastes as well as in some nutrients. However, because children often neglect to brush their teeth, they do not get enough fluoride to make their teeth resistant to caries. In order to prevent this situation, "superficial fluoride" applications are made.

Superficial fluoride application is especially applied to children whose teeth are prone to decay. In this way, a sufficient amount of fluoride is deposited on the teeth and the structure of the teeth is strengthened, making them resistant to caries.

Fissure Sealant (tooth grafting) Applications

The chewing surfaces of the teeth are indented. These pits and mounds are called pits and fissures. These areas are very narrow and are often where cavities start due to the inability to clear the jam. A special fluid filling material is used in order to prevent the accumulation of food and microorganisms in these areas and accordingly caries. First of all, this area is completely cleaned and the fluid filling, which we call fissure filling, is applied to this area. It is hardened with light and polished by correcting the excesses.

Thanks to this process, it is possible to be protected from chewing surface caries. Although it can be used for many years under normal conditions, it is beneficial to check it frequently, especially in those who have habits such as ice chewing or teeth grinding.

The period when the first permanent teeth appear in the mouth is ideal for application. This is around 6 years old. It is also applied to the others during the eruption of other molars.

Although it can be applied to adults without caries, its use in children is more beneficial and important.

Placeholder Applications

Milk teeth fall out as a result of the melting of their roots due to the pressure of the permanent teeth from below. But sometimes milk teeth can be lost prematurely as a result of an impact or due to caries. When the primary tooth is lost early, the teeth on both sides bend towards the extraction space, the teeth on the opposite jaw extend towards this space. Thus, as a result of the early loss of the primary tooth, the necessary distance for the permanent tooth to come from below is lost, and crowding occurs in the permanent teeth.

In early loss of primary teeth, appliances called placeholders are used to protect the place of the permanent tooth from below. Placeholders keep the adjacent teeth stable by preventing them from moving into the extraction space. Thus, crowding in permanent teeth is prevented. Placeholders are passive appliances, they do not apply force to the teeth.

Placeholders are applied in two ways, fixed and movable. Fixed placeholders are used in the absence of a single tooth. As the name suggests, it is fixed, the patient cannot remove it. Movable placeholders are used in the absence of more than one primary tooth. The patient can put on and take off the appliance.

Regulation of Nutritional Habit

According to the nutritional habits of the child, the pedodontist makes a plan to protect from caries by creating a program jointly with the family. Identify the mistakes made during child feeding.

Fracture Treatment

Children often fall or crash. As a result of this, a simple mouthpiece, which will damage their front teeth and disturb them for years, prevents the damage caused by a trauma to the lower part of the face. Especially in children who play sports such as football, boxing, skiing, basketball, cycling, skating, surfing and skateboarding, dental traumas, fractures or lip, tongue biting and tearing are prevented as a result of the cushioning effect of a silicone transparent mouthpiece placed on the upper jaw teeth.

What are the common habits in children?

Teeth Grinding Habit

It is a common condition in children. Stress, aggressive, obsessive or shy personalities, children whose parents grind their teeth are more prone to this habit. Teeth wear, grinding noises while sleeping, pain in the facial muscles, problems in the jaw joint, headache, tooth wobble and sensitivity can all be symptoms of teeth grinding. In order to eliminate this problem, first of all, it is tried to eliminate the factors that cause psychological teeth grinding. It is beneficial to act together with pedagogues and school guidance teachers. If this is not achieved, a soft night plate can be made to the patient, which can be inserted and removed at regular intervals.

Finger Sucking Habit

Thumb sucking is a common habit at a young age. Generally, if it is left until the age of four, the open bite that occurs in the teeth disappears on its own. The continuation of the habit at the age of permanent teeth eruption leads to structural disorders in these teeth and palate. The cause of these disorders is the pressure exerted by the finger on the front teeth and palate. The degree of impairment that occurs depends on the duration, frequency, and severity of sucking and the position of the finger during sucking.

Unless the child himself wants to get rid of this habit, treatment is difficult to achieve. It is psychologically very beneficial for the child to quit before school age so that he or she is not pressured by the environment and is not ridiculed. The child should be guided positively by being encouraged and rewarded without being put under pressure. If, despite everything, the habit has not disappeared until the age of 6, it is necessary to seek professional help by applying to the dentist.

Pacifier Habit

For babies, sucking is the most natural way to relax and feel safe. The pacifier should be given only when necessary, not for most of the day.
In order for this habit not to cause structural defects, pacifiers with natural breast structure should be chosen as much as possible. The soundness of the structure of the pacifiers should be checked daily. The size of the pacifier should be suitable for the structure of the mouth.

What to do if you can't find the broken parts of the teeth?

If the broken part is small, a white (composite) filling is made in the same color and form as the tooth. Intraoral durability of composite fillings is limited. They change color by being dyed with foods such as tea, coffee and cola.

If the fracture is large and covers half or more of the tooth, porcelain laminate veneers are applied. Porcelain laminate veneers are durable and aesthetic. They can be explained as porcelain leaves that adhere to the front surface of the tooth and cover the fractured part.

It is not correct to apply porcelain laminate veneers in children younger than 17 years of age, since the development of teeth and jaws is not completed. Again, composite laminates that cover the entire front surface of the tooth and the fractured part are made.

For children's oral and dental health:

• The use of pacifiers should be stopped around the age of one and a half.
• The child should meet the dentist between the first and second years of age.
• Meeting the dentist early and when there is no problem creates a positive image in the child.
• Brushing of the teeth should be started as soon as they come out.
• Proper nutrition is also one of the basic elements of dental health.
• Today's most important task of dentists is to guide children towards a caries-free future with preventive treatments. For this purpose, Fluor and Fissure sealant fillings can be considered as protective against caries.
• Children should be examined orthodontically at the age of 6-9 years.
• The place of a prematurely extracted primary tooth should be protected until the permanent tooth comes in.
• In addition to the bottle, giving pacifiers dipped in sweeteners such as honey, molasses, jam to silence crying babies is another cause of bottle bruises. In addition, carbohydrate-sugar foods given to the baby's hand to linger after the teeth erupt also cause tooth decay. Instead of such foods, the child has high nutritional value such as apples and carrots; It is necessary to direct it to foods that help teeth cleaning.

What should be done during the teething period of babies?

It is intended to give something to chew or scratch, to relieve the pressure on the gums rather than the nutritional value. For this reason, if the chewed thing is cold, its benefit increases. A frozen donut, a cold banana, or carrot, a piece of ice wrapped in cheesecloth, a rubber tooth ring. Whatever you give your baby to chew, always be with him and ensure that he is in a sitting position. Thanks to cold drinks or cold foods, you will also meet your baby's water needs and replace the fluid lost with diarrhea or increased salivation. Refrigerated peach puree, applesauce, yogurt may appeal to your baby more than room temperature food. Painkillers (paracetamol) that will reduce pain will make your job easier. Consult your doctor for dose adjustment. Don't put anything else on your baby's gums unless your doctor recommends it.

What should be done if the front tooth is completely dislodged as a result of trauma?

If the entire tooth is dislodged, it should be washed under clean, running water, keeping the root of the tooth intact. The ideal environment for the falling tooth to be delivered to the doctor is the oral cavity. However, this method is not recommended as the child can easily swallow the tooth. If the fallen tooth is not in milk, it should be brought to the doctor as soon as possible in clean water. When you deliver the tooth, your dentist will decide whether to replace the tooth or not, depending on whether the falling tooth is milk or permanent, the cavity of the tooth and the degree of trauma to the tooth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pedodontics