Fillings, white crowns & root canal treatment

Because it is not going anywhere soon. Lower front teeth go at six or seven, upper front at seven or eight, but the back molars — the ones that get most of the cavities — stay until ten, eleven, sometimes twelve. A cavity in a baby molar at four means that tooth still has six to eight years of work ahead of it, holding the space for the permanent tooth behind it.

On a back molar, no — nobody sees a second molar. On a front tooth, yes, and that is exactly when a tooth-coloured zirconia crown is worth the extra preparation and chair time.

No. The crown is cemented to the baby tooth only; the permanent tooth forming below is separate and untouched. When it is ready it dissolves the baby tooth’s roots as normal, and the baby tooth comes out with the crown still on it. Leaving decay untreated is the thing that can damage a permanent tooth, through infection reaching the tooth bud.

It may be MIH — molar incisor hypomineralisation — a developmental defect where the enamel forms with too little mineral in it. Global estimates put it at 14 to 20 per cent of children, roughly one in six. It is not caused by hygiene or diet, and it matters because standard fillings do not bond well to hypomineralised enamel and can fail within weeks. It is treated differently. Dr. Sharifa AlHaj holds MIH Masterclass certification and it is a focus of her practice here.

Sometimes. Silver diamine fluoride is painted onto the cavity, kills the bacteria and hardens the softened tooth, taking one to three minutes per tooth with no injection and no drilling. It arrests 60 to 90 per cent of active cavities. It does not suit every case — not where infection has reached the nerve, and not where the tooth is broken, because it does not rebuild structure — and it turns the treated area permanently dark.

That changes the plan rather than ending it. Nitrous oxide leaves your child awake and calmer; treatment under general anaesthesia in hospital completes everything in one session. We would start with the least invasive of those that will actually work.

Tell reception your insurer when you book. We hold direct billing agreements with fifteen insurers, and cover differs between the pediatric and dental departments, so we check your eligibility before the appointment rather than at the desk. Anything not covered can be split into four payments with Tabby.