Kids crowns or crowns for children are used to restore badly damaged teeth. Crowns for children are placed over the entire teeth. Kids crowns are used to save baby teeth until they are ready to fall out on their own. Baby teeth are important for several reasons:
- Chewing food
- Allowing speech to develop normally
- Maintaining spaces for the permanent teeth
- Guiding the permanent teeth into position
Why do children need kids crowns?
A baby tooth with a large cavity does not have enough healthy tooth structure to hold a filling. A filling placed in a baby tooth after cleaning a large cavity will not be strong enough to hold to chewing forces. Crowns for children will protect the teeth and prevent fracture and future infections. Kids crowns are also used to cover baby teeth after baby root canal (pulpotomy).
A baby tooth with large cavity
A baby tooth with stainless steel crown
How do crowns for children look like?
Crowns for children are either made of stainless steel (stainless steel crowns), plastic, or zirconia.
Stainless steel kids crownsStainless steel kids crowns are metal shells of varying sizes that can be customized to fit any tooth. They are ideal for molar teeth. Dr. Elseweifi uses them for restoring badly decayed teeth and after a molar tooth has baby root canal (pulpotomy).
Cosmetic Kids crownsDr. Elseweifi believes that a child deserve to have a nice smile. Therefore, he uses cosmetic “white” kids crowns for front baby teeth. When crowns for children are made of resin, they are much weaker than stainless steel crowns.
After placing kids crowns, some childrenmay have some mild discomfort. This usually is caused by irritation of the tooth's pulp or the soft tissue around the tooth. The discomfort usually goes away after the first 24 hours.
Dr. Elseweifi is a Chicago dentist trained in children dentistry at the University of Southern Illinois.