Gainesville Restorative Dentistry
for Kids

Health and Strength for Every Smile.

Can baby teeth really need restorative dentistry?

Yes, in fact sometimes even the youngest smiles need tooth restorations. From the moment the first tiny tooth appears, your child’s dentition is at risk for damage and decay. Sugar and acids are present everywhere, even in natural, healthy foods. Add to that the active lifestyles kids love, and you can see that dental risks are all around us.

Clearly you can’t deprive your child of necessary nutrition from healthy foods or keep them indoors and sitting still so they don’t damage their teeth.

To enjoy life, you have to take some risks in stride – all while taking the necessary protective steps such as:

  • Avoiding constant snacking
  • Limiting sticky foods (even dried fruit)
  • Filling the bottle or sippy cup with pure water between meals
  • Brushing after every meal or snack
  • Keeping up with professional dental hygiene visits
  • Having sealants and fluoride applied
  • Insisting on a mouthguard during sports or other risky activities

No matter how carefully you follow Dr. Thomas Weyrich’s suggestions or how diligent you are about keeping those precious teeth clean, life happens. Don’t worry or feel guilty – just bring your kids to Dr. Tom!

Our dental restorations are designed just for children’s particular needs. We will stop tooth infection from spreading (important even in baby teeth!), improve dental function, and strengthen areas of weakness. Plus, our team is here to calm your child, stop the pain, and get those little teeth back to ideal health.

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Fillings

Kids love coming in for checkups and discovering that they are cavity-free. But if the cavity bugs strike, we try to make getting a filling as easy and stress-free as possible. We recommend that all children have cavities repaired with more attractive, tooth-colored fillings instead of metal amalgam. These fillings help kids feel more confident because they are practically invisible in their smiles.

Tooth Recontouring

Sometimes all that is necessary to smooth out small chips or other damage is tooth recontouring. Tooth recontouring is basically the process of gently sculpting and smoothing jagged, uneven, or irregular tooth edges, for a more comfortable feeling and more attractive appearance. We use our electric handpieces for this and other procedures for a more quiet and pleasant experience.

Crowns & Space Maintainers

If your child has suffered from severe decay, trauma, or has a need for a root canal, we recommend either white or stainless steel crowns for improved function and appearance. The choice between porcelain and stainless will be based on your child’s age, habits, and the extent of the repair, but our porcelain crowns blend much more naturally in the smile than traditional stainless steel crowns. Neither our porcelain nor our stainless steel crowns contain any mercury. They are strong, long-lasting, and comfortable. Crowns can also be used to attach pediatric partials, or space maintainers,  to replace missing teeth, keep remaining teeth from shifting, and act as space holders for the new adult teeth. We consider children’s confidence as well as their health so our pediatric partials never look like false teeth or dentures. Instead, we make sure they blend right in so your children, no matter what their age, can enjoy smiling with confidence.

Pulpotomies

Pulpotomy. It sounds complicated and scary, but really it’s a fairly simple procedure that can save your child’s tooth. Similar to a root canal, and sometimes referred to as a baby root canal, pulpotomies treat the infected or damaged pulp of a tooth. How does it work? Inside every tooth is soft tissue made up of nerves, connective tissues, and blood vessels. When these tissues become infected or inflamed, the pain can be severe and the infection can even spread to other parts of the body or lead to an abscess. To stop the pain and save that important baby tooth, we open the tooth, clear out all the infected tissue all the way down into the roots, disinfect, and fill it with a protective material. Once everything is clean and infection-free, we seal the tooth with a strong, protective dental crown. The pain usually subsides very quickly so your little one can get back to enjoying life.

Minor Extractions

Sometimes baby or permanent teeth are so badly damaged, decayed, or infected that they need to be removed. Removal becomes important when there is pain that can’t be stopped, an infection that is likely to spread, or damage that is too extensive to repair. It is never an ideal situation, but when it happens, we will explain everything to your child on his or her level to make him comfortable. We are here, after all, to take the fear out of dentistry and get your kiddos back to smiling as soon as possible. If it is a primary tooth, we will recommend a space maintainer to ensure the proper growth and development of the permanent tooth.

Thomas J. Weyrich, DDS, PC Thomas J. Weyrich, DDS, PC Thomas J. Weyrich, DDS, PC
Thomas J. Weyrich, DDS, PC Thomas J. Weyrich, DDS, PC