Will my child need a dental crown after root canal treatment?

Even a child may need a root canal if a tooth is so severely damaged by decay or injury that its inner core could be exposed to harmful bacteria. A children’s root canal is rather similar to the procedure that an adult patient would undergo. This includes the placement of a dental crown on the targeted tooth to protect it from breaking after the root canal.

A children’s root canal leaves the tooth more susceptible to breakage, so a dental crown can help to strengthen the tooth to reduce the risk of this outcome and the further treatment that it would necessitate. The process of placing a crown is also the same in a pediatric patient as it is in an adult one.

The pediatric dentist will request the crown to be designed specifically to fit on your child’s tooth. When the crown is ready, it will be bonded to the tooth.

Rest assured that this entire treatment process should not result in significant discomfort for your child. Your child should experience no more pain from a root canal than he or she would when having a cavity filled. An experienced pediatric dentist will thoroughly explain all of the steps in the process and work to ease any anxiety that your child may have about the treatment.

Similarly, your child should not have any pain associated with the process of placing the crown on the tooth. This is a simple restoration and does not require any sort of invasive procedure.

The purpose of a root canal is preserving a child’s natural tooth, whether to avoid the negative consequences of premature primary tooth loss or to save a permanent tooth that has already erupted and been damaged. A dental crown is an additional step that helps to achieve this goal after a root canal.

Call our office today to speak to our child’s dentist to learn more about this aspect of treatment and to ask any questions you may have.