Visit Route 07
A filling that blends in, and stops the decay where it is.
Tooth coloured material replaces just the decayed part of the tooth, so the repair is virtually invisible and the rest of the tooth is left alone.
Chapter 01
What decay looks like before it is a problem
A cavity does not always announce itself with pain. What a parent usually notices first is a visible hole or a dark spot on a tooth, a complaint of sensitivity to something hot or cold, or a wince when your child bites down on that side of the mouth.
Sometimes it is quieter than that, food getting stuck in the same spot meal after meal, or a general complaint of discomfort your child cannot quite point to. Any of those is worth a look before the decayed part of the tooth gets any bigger.
A treatment room of the kind used for a filling
How the filling appointment runs at Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry
The decayed portion of the tooth is removed first, and only that portion. What is left of the healthy tooth stays exactly as it is. The tooth coloured material is then shaped and set to match the tooth it is repairing, which is why the result reads as virtually invisible rather than as a filling.
Once it is placed, the material bonds to the tooth and restores the shape your child bites and chews with, so the tooth goes back to doing its job the same day.
Chapter 03
Why stopping it here matters
Decay does not stay put. Left in a tooth, it spreads, and a small filling now is what keeps that same tooth from needing a crown or a baby root canal later. Catching it while it is still a filling job is the cheaper and gentler outcome by a wide margin.
If your child has mentioned a sensitive tooth or you have spotted a dark patch, call the Bartlett office and get it looked at before the next scheduled cleaning rolls around.
Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry, we file the insurance paperwork for you. Call (901) 382-1564.