Tooth decay (cavities or caries) is a progressinve desease which often begins in very young children. Decay is a result of the interaction between bacteria which are normally on our teeth and sugars in the everyday diet. The bacteria use those sugars to produce acid. A tooth exposed to this acid will lose mineral, and that loss is the first step toward tooth decay. Your pediatric dentist can remove the decay and use modern materials such as tooth-colored or silver fillings to restore the tooth to a healthy state. If tooth damage is very sever, there may be nerve damage and a stainless steel crown might be required.

These children have badly decayed teeth at a very young age.

Your pediatric dentist is familiar with treatment techniques required by extensive tooth decay and can employ medications that control pain and alleviate your child's apprehension about treatment. Many pediatric dentists are doing research to learn how to prevent dental decay and other forms of disease. Visiting a pediatric dentist early in the child's growing years can help avoid unnecessary decay and dental treatment later.

These teeth had cavities which were removed and restored with silver fillings.

This is a stainless steel crown placed on a tooth which was badly decayed.

Disturbances in the normal growth and development of children can occur in many ways. Bite problems (teeth in the wrong positions -- "malocclusion") are often a concern to parents. Some of these problems are hereditary, such as missing or extra teeth from birth, but many are caused by other factors like thumbsucking or early loss of the baby teeth. It is important to detect bite problems and determine their cause as soonas possible.

Your pediatric detist's knowledge of growth and development allows him/her to detect and treat these problems at an early age. This not only avoids bite problems later, it may improve your child's appearance, speech and ability to eat and digest foods properly.

Before

After

The pediatric dentist was able to correct this bite problem before age 9.

Sometimes there are disturbances when a child is developing, which can cause discoloration and/or deformation of his teeth. These disturbances can be local, disturbing only one or a few teeth, or they can be systemic, disturbing most of the teeth. These defects can affect normal chewing as well as adversely affect the child's looks (which can cause emotional problems). Your pediatric dentist can provide comprehensive treatment which will not only restore the teeth to their normal function and appearance, but which will also help your child feel better about his/her looks.

Before

After

It is very important that primary teeth are kept until they are lost naturally. They serve a number of important functions. They help maintain good nutrition by permitting your child to chew properly. They are important in allowing good pronuciation and speech habits; and they help your child feel good about they way he/she looks to others.

Primary teeth also help guide the proper eruption of the permanent teeth. When primary teeth are lost too early, the space that is left should be maintained by a "space maintainer" to ensure that there will be enough room for the permanent teeth when they erupt. Your pediatric dentist has the knowledge required to apply both preventive and corrective techniques which will maintain the health of your child's teeth. Many times he/she can make a minor correction that will eliminate major dental work later.

This model illustrates how the baby teeth act as natural space maintainers for the developing permanent teeth.

When the baby teeth are lost too early, a space maintainer should be placed to preserve the space for the developing permanent teeth; otherwise, the permanent teeth will be crowded and not have room in the mouth.

Falls at home or on the playground and athletic injuries often cause damage to the teeth and gums. Many injuries are obvious but some can be hidden. It is important to have your pediatric dentist examine the child as soon as possible after the incident even if the wounds don't look too bad, you should go to the dentist as soon as possible after the injury so that no teeth are lost from hidden injuries beneath the gums. Prompt treatment often can help stop later bite problems. Quick action often can save a tooth that has been knocked completely out of the socket!

Before treatment - these teeth were broken in a bicycle accident.

After treatment - the pediatric dentist restored the broken teeth with tooth-colored materials.

Intravenous anesthesia, which is commonly known as IV sedation, provides a way of effectively completing your dental care while the patient is asleep. Most children respond well to nitrous oxide and/or oral sedatives. However, candidates for intravenous anesthesia are most commonly children with severe anxiety and/or the inability to relax. Usually, these children are very young, anxious or physically/mentally compromised.

The use of IV sedation can allow Dr. Taheri to complete many dental visits in just one appointment, without fear and discomfort. Your child will fall asleep in your arms and wake up in your arms. As a result, your child may look forward to future dental visits!