Everything that happens to a child have influence on his parents. A part of this are temporary teeth. We always interested in the temporary teeth, when we had them or our children have. But seriously we think about them, when they start to ache. Many parents ask themselves whether to treat temporary teeth, as they will later be replaced by permanent teeth automatically. The result of such behavior of parents is pulpitis. Often the cause of inflammation is microorganisms and their toxins entering the pulp from carious cavity by wide dentinal tubules.

– Victorya, please, tell us the most important information for parents about temporary teeth.
– I would like to start from structure of a tooth. Temporary teeth have the same structure as permanent ones. They have a crown and a root located in bone tissue of a jaw. Tooth crown protrudes into the mouth and is formed by dentin and enamel – the hardest tissue of human body. A cavity with pulp is located in the tooth, it consists of nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue fiber. Pulp makes signals to us, that something is wrong with tooth. Tooth begins to pain, responding on cold or hot food, spontaneous pains are happen for a long time. Child can often suffer from ears ache due to pain radiation, but the cause is temporary tooth, which is not cured. In this case it is necessary to treat the tooth, not the ears. This is pulpitis, one of the most common diseases of temporary teeth. Chronic forms of pulpitis are detected in the most cases. Acute type of children's pulpitis has quick behavior, often without pain, and parents pay no attention on it.

– Why parents do not detect the inflammation on initial stage?
– This happens due to fact that anatomical structure of temporary teeth has larger volume of internal cavity, thickness of hard tissues is thinner in comparison with adults.

– Shall we cure temporary teeth or is it better to extract them immediately?
– This issue concerns many parents, believing that there is no point of treatment of temporary teeth as they will be replaced by permanent ones. However, it is highly recommended to stop the disease and remove the infection from the oral cavity, because presence of large amount of harmful bacteria in the oral cavity reduces immunity, increases risk of various diseases of the oral cavity, throat and even diseases of gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys, cardiovascular and endocrine systems. In case of temporary teeth early removal the jaw growth is delayed, which leads to lack of space in dental row for permanent teeth and improper occlusion development in the future.

– How long does it take to cure pulpitis in children's temporary tooth?
– This type of treatment in our dentistry is performed during two visits and not for three or four visits as it was before. Pediatric dentist examines oral cavity in details by image from visiograph and orthopantomogram, he inspects the affected teeth and the whole oral cavity. Then he makes anaesthesia, preparation of carious cavity and tooth cavity, removes inflamed pulp, applies special therapeutic paste, places temporary filling. After treatment it is necessary to take another X-ray image in order to verify correctness of therapeutic paste application and regular check-up procedure. The dentist will replace the temporary filling with permanent one in case of absence of complaints during next visit in 5-6 days. At the same time the processes of resorption of roots of temporary teeth and formation of permanent teeth goes without irregularity.

– The latest methods of treatment of caries and its complications without pain can do all things easy, but much better is to exclude development of these diseases, isn't it?
– Yes, absolutely right! I want to address to parents: please, provide your kids with regular dental examinations (at least 2 times per year) and caries prevention procedures. Remember, that the best treatment is prevention! Take care of your child in advance, do not forget and do not postpone regular visits to dentists!