Fillings in baby teeth

Why fill a baby tooth that is going to fall out?

Some baby teeth don't fall out until your child is 12 years old. A tooth that needs to be filled could be one of those. Broken and infected teeth can affect your child's health and self-confidence. To fill the tooth, the dentist will remove the cavity and 'fill' the tooth with metal, plastic or another material. A filling may be an easy and inexpensive way to alleviate a problem that, if left untreated, could cause pain and require costly treatment. It can prevent the cavity from affecting the tooth any further.

If the tooth is not filled and the cavity grows, the tooth might have to be pulled. If that is the case, your child might need to wear a spacer to leave room for the permanent tooth to come in. When a baby tooth is missing, the teeth around it could move into the space and prevent the permanent tooth from growing. To keep the space open, your dentist may fit a plastic or metal spacer on the adjacent teeth.