We provide kids dental care for children who are struggling with oral health issues or are in need of preventative care. As a local dentist, we recommend that you have your child’s teeth cleaned at least twice per year, so we can remove plaque from on and in between their teeth, give them a fluoride treatment, and reduce their risk of getting cavities overall. This will help prevent them from developing a toothache in the future. Still, it can happen, and when it does, it is important for parents to know how to treat it.

First, consider what causes a toothache. We have found that it can be caused by food stuck in between teeth, dental trauma, an accident, or decay. With that in mind, here are a few steps you can take if your child complains of a toothache.

  • Examine their mouth.  Start by having them rinse their mouth with water to remove any loose food particles that could be leftover from their recent snack. Next, grab a flashlight and peer inside their mouth. This should not substitute a professional examination, but it can give you an idea of any obvious problems. For example, if their mouth is bleeding and you see an abrasion or an obviously chipped tooth, it can help you to know what steps to take next. If you see any other obvious signs of damage, give us a call right away. If you see a small cut or abrasion, have them rinse with salt water and give them soft, non-acidic foods to eat for a couple of days.
  • Brush and floss. In the case that something is stuck in between your child’s teeth, brush and floss them to remove it. This will often eliminate the cause of their discomfort. While providing kids’ dental care, we will often remove something that was stuck, but neither the child nor parents could remove it. This can happen from time to time and is a quick fix in our dental office.
  • Schedule an appointment. If there are no obvious signs of damage, your child could have a small cavity that needs to be treated. In this case, we will remove the decayed portion of the tooth and place a filling to restore the tooth structure. We will do this after numbing the area, so your child will not feel any discomfort other than light pressure. Our fillings are tooth-colored and will blend in with their surrounding teeth so no one will be able to tell they had a cavity when they smile.
  • Restore the tooth. If your child has a toothache due to a small crack or chip, we can restore the tooth. As a provider of kids dental care, we have several ways of doing so. If the damage is small, we typically recommend a dental bonding procedure, because this is a non-invasive and fast way to restore a tooth. In this procedure, we apply a tooth-colored material, shape it in place and use a special dental light to harden it for a same-day restoration.

Regardless of why your child has a toothache, we can help. To learn more or to schedule an appointment for kids dental care, give our office a call.