Pediatric Dentistry

Pedodontics
Pediatric dentistry, or pedodontics, deals with the processes that children experience from birth to adolescence. The field of pedodontics focuses on the detection and treatment of oral and dental health diseases experienced during this period.

Why Do We Care About Pediatric Dentistry?
The pediatric dentist is the person who should be visited when children's milk teeth emerge. Milk teeth are the precursors of permanent teeth. Paying attention to the child's oral and dental health from the moment the baby teeth begin to appear has consequences that even affect adulthood.

• Follow-up of any problems that may occur during the emergence of milk teeth,
• Elimination of detected problems,
• Detection and treatment of caries that may occur in milk teeth or permanent teeth,
• Precautions to be taken, when necessary, to prevent early tooth extraction from disrupting the tooth row,
• The branch of pedodontics, which covers many areas such as the use of prosthetic teeth, helps to get through a long and complicated period in the healthiest way.

When treating primary and permanent teeth (restorative and endodontic) in children, the caries risk group of the children is determined and added to the treatment plans. Some preventive pedodontics practices are:

Fissure sealant (Dental nail polish)
Milk and permanent teeth are very prone to caries formation because they do not complete the formation of tooth enamel when they first erupt.

Since food accumulation in the indented and protruding structures (fissures) on the chewing surface of the teeth will cause rapid caries formation, a protective sealant must be applied to these surfaces. With this method called fissure sealant (dental nail polish), these surfaces are covered with a fluid filling material. The tooth becomes stronger against caries stimuli.

Fluoride Applications (Enamel Protector)
Fluoride is a very important element that prevents tooth decay and strengthens the structure of the tooth by joining it. Newly erupted permanent or milk teeth are very sensitive to cavities because their enamel has not yet formed. Fluoride strengthens this structure against decay. With this method applied by pedodontists, future tooth decay is prevented before it even starts.

Placeholder
Milk teeth are very important not only for the eating and drinking function of children, but also because they hold space for the permanent teeth that will come from below. In the early loss of a possible milk tooth, the teeth slide forward and cover the place of the permanent tooth that will come from below. This creates confusion problems in the future. For this reason, in case of premature loss of a milk tooth, a space maintainer must be made to replace that tooth.
These space maintainers can be fixed or mobile depending on the location of the lost primary tooth or the number of primary teeth.

Thumb Sucking Habit
The habit of thumb sucking, which starts at a young age in children, causes permanent tooth and jaw problems if it is not stopped after a certain age. In these cases, treatment alternatives are available. First of all, the child should never be approached with anger, and instead of punishing, this problem should be prevented with affectionate conversations. If the thumb sucking habit continues, attempts are made to stop this habit with alternative oral appliances.