Pediatric Dental Crowns

Novato Children's Dentistry is dedicated to providing specialized dental care tailored to the unique needs of children.

Our pediatric dental crowns service offers high-quality, durable solutions for restoring damaged or decayed teeth, ensuring your child's smile remains healthy and bright.

What Are Pediatric Dental Crowns?

Pediatric dental crowns are tooth-shaped "caps" placed over a tooth to restore its shape, size, strength, and appearance. Crowns are used when fillings are insufficient to repair the damage. They protect and restore the tooth's structure, ensuring it can function normally.

Our Pediatric Crown Options

• Stainless Steel Crowns: Often used for back teeth, stainless steel crowns are durable and able to withstand the biting and chewing forces. They are a cost-effective solution for restoring function to severely decayed or damaged teeth. They are the gold-standard for primary teeth because they require less tooth removal, easily adjusted, shorter procedure time, more retentive, and the pulp responds more positively to these crowns resulting in a good prognosis post treatment. 

• Tooth-Colored Crowns: For front teeth or visible areas, we offer tooth-colored crowns made from composite materials. These crowns provide a more natural appearance, blending seamlessly with the surrounding teeth.

• Zirconia Crowns: As an alternative to traditional materials, zirconia crowns offer superior strength and aesthetics. Zirconia crowns have their limitations and it is important to consult with Dr. Espinosa and Dr. DeSimini on if they are a good option for your child. The procedure time is longer for zirconia crowns which is important to note when a child requires a quicker treatment appointment to protect their developing psyche. Because we cannot adjust these thicker crowns they are less retentive and require removal of more tooth structure. Also there is a risk of the pulp tissue responding negatively to these crowns since they are herder and cemented closer to the pulp chamber. 

The Benefits of Pediatric Dental Crowns

• Long-lasting Protection: Crowns provide a long-term solution for moderate-severely damaged or decayed teeth. Their full coverage protects from further decay or tooth fracture, aiding in restoring overall oral health.

• Functional Restoration: They restore the tooth's function, allowing your child to chew properly and maintain balanced nutrition.

• Aesthetic Improvement: Especially with tooth-colored and zirconia crowns, the aesthetic appearance of your child's smile can be restored, boosting their confidence.

The Process of Placing a Pediatric Crown

1. Preparation of Patient: Age appropriate language is used in preparing the child for the appointment. Noise canceling headphones, essential oils, personally selected music, nitrous oxide, and parental support are all ways that we may settle the patient before and initially in the dental chair.

2. Preparation: Topical anesthetic is applied for comfort before the local anesthetic administration. We are skilled in pediatric dentistry to administer the numbing agent with the least amount of recognition by the patient so they feel comfortable. The tooth is prepared for the crown, which involves removing decayed or weakened tooth tissue, and shaping it to fit the full coverage restoration.

3. Fitting the Crown: Once the tooth is prepared, different crown sizes are tried on to find the perfect fit. Stainless steel crowns are crimped for maximum retention while zirconia crowns may need several tooth preparation adjustments to ensure a smooth resistant-free placement. Once ready, the crown is cemented into place. Excess cement is removed from the margins, the tooth is flossed and the bite is checked and adjusted as needed. 

Schedule Your Child's Consultation

If your child needs a dental crown, trust Novato Children's Dentistry to provide expert care in a supportive environment. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn more about our pediatric dental crown options. Let us help restore your child's smile and confidence.