How do you fix large cavities on the front teeth?
If a baby tooth has been severely affected by dental decay or pulp therapy has been performed on the tooth, a regular silver or white filling is not the treatment of choice. Due to the size of the cavity and root canal treatment, something that covers the entire tooth must be used such as a stainless steel crown, a stainless steel crown with a facing, or a composite crown (i.e. Pedoform crown).
A stainless steel crown (SSC) is a prefabricated crown designed and manufactured in a variety of sizes to fit the tooth. Our office uses "Ion Crowns" made by the 3M Company that are very precisely designed to simulate the original anatomy of the tooth that they are covering. Also, these 3M "Ion Crowns" are manufactured to be sized and fitted to your child's tooth in a much shorter time by our doctors. This is a great benefit to your child as he/she is in the dental chair for a shorter period of time. The benefits of placing a stainless steel crown on a tooth include full coverage of the damaged tooth, decreasing the risk of future cavities to that same tooth, saving the proper amount of space for the eruption of the permanent tooth, the restored ability to bite and chew his/her food properly, and the ability to speak properly.
A stainless steel crown with a facing is an upper front stainless steel crown with either the front portion removed by the doctor and a composite (resin material) molded and shaped in the front. These give the stainless steel crown a "white" appearance. This choice gives your child somewhat better esthetics for the upper front teeth while giving this final restoration the strength and retention of the stainless steel crown.
A Pedoform Crown is a crown made entirely from composite. All decay is removed from the tooth, and then the doctor uses a plastic shell to restore the tooth to its closest original contours. The plastic form is then filled with the white resin material and bonded to the remaining enamel of the tooth. (Because the composte material relies heavily on bonding to enamel, absence of enamel in the remaining tooth structure significantly decreases the ability of the crown to stick to the tooth.) After the composite is set using a special light source, the plastic crown form is removed leaving the PedoForm on the tooth. The PedoForm is the most esthetic of all the crowns available for our use, but there are definite limitations and contraindications to its use.