The two most common dental problems in children are:

1. Dental Cavities
2. Crooked Teeth

Both these diseases are essentially life style diseases and most often dental cavities of baby teeth leads to the problem of crooked teeth in children.

Dental Cavities

The most common reason for dental cavities are excessive sugar in diets of children (Refined sugar as part of chocolates, candies, ice creams, biscuits – essentially all sugar containing sticky food stuffs)

However the starting point for dental cavities in kids very often is prolonged and careless milk feeding habits (both breast and bottle feeding) by mothers. Feeding milk to babies at night when the babies are sleepy leads to collection of milk for a prolonged period of time leading to destruction of baby teeth. This is called as nursing bottle caries. Once dental cavities appear they keep spreading from tooth to tooth. Associated with this is the utter neglect by most parents who share the common misconception that baby teeth are temporary in nature and therefore do not require attention. This ignorance of parents causes immense harm to the baby because unattended cavities lead to severe pain and infection.

Crooked Teeth

Unattended milk teeth with large cavities leads to their early loss which is one of the most important causes for crooked teeth in children. In addition modern day children spend more time on sedentary activities such as watching television, playing computer games etc. unlike children of the past who used to participate more in sports activities. This sedentary life style of children makes them mouth breathers leading to poorly developed respiratory system (Nose, Lungs). This again increases the severity of crooked teeth.

Although treating dental diseases has never been the priority of DenSure, the clinical setup does have state of the art facilities to provide the best of treatment procedures for already existing disease.

The following procedures are performed routinely:

1. Dental fillings – for baby teeth: Small cavities of baby teeth are frequently neglected by most parents thinking that the baby teeth are temporary. However cavities in milk teeth spread fast leading to infection and pain. Therefore small cavities can be filled with fluoride releasing tooth color materials to prevent further spread.

   Treatment charges: Rs 300 ~ 500/- (Depending on size)

2. Root canal treatment for baby teeth: Although milk teeth are temporary teeth, they serve very important functions in the oral cavity, such as chewing, speech and appearance. Hence they should be preserved till their replacement by permanent teeth. Calcium content is less in milk teeth. Hence, once cavities are initiated, if not intervened at the earliest it leads to rapid spread of decay. As a result the child suffers from pain, infection and sometimes swelling associated with fever. Intervention at such a late stage is difficult both for clinician as well as child and the parent due to invasiveness of the procedures involved. However the disease needs to be treated, failing which child’s overall nutrition, growth and underlying permanent teeth will be affected.

   The steps involved in the management of such deep cavities involves cleaning of the cavity and the roots of the teeth followed by filling. This procedure will have to be done under local anaesthesia. Otherwise it can be very painful for the child.

   Treatment charges: Rs 1500 ~ 2000/-

3. Stainless Steel Crowns: These are metal crowns which are indicated following root canal treatment for baby teeth, as the teeth are significantly weakened and susceptible to fracture after this procedure. They are also indicated in the case of multi surface and large cavities on teeth, in teeth predisposed to cavities due to less calcium and children with high caries risk.

   Treatment charges: Rs 1750/-

   Image Gallery
   FAQ: When will this milk tooth fall off?

   Back teeth of kids (molars) are usually replaced between the 9th – 12th year of the child by their permanent successors. Therefore a tooth with a crown should last till this age ideally.

The entire focus of the DenSure model of dentistry is to prevent dental disease in children.

DenSure has two plans of preventive dentistry for children

1. DenSure Basic Plan – Helps prevent dental cavities in your child
2. DenSure Plus Plan – Helps prevent dental cavities plus crooked teeth in your child

DenSure Basic Plan (Birth to 6 years)

The basic plan is applicable ideally for all children right from birth. In this plan a customized protocol is designed for your baby to protect him/her against dental cavities. This plan involves regular visits to the dental clinic (6 to 8 visits a year).

Charges for DenSure Basic Plan: Annual charges ranging from Rs 1200 ~ 1500/- (Per year - all inclusive)

"ALL DENTAL CAVITIES ARE TREATED FREE* FOR CHILDREN COVERED BY THIS PLAN"

Preexisting disease treatment is not covered

DenSure Plus Plan (Applicable to children between 6 to 9 years)

1. Who is the right candidate for the DenSure Plus plan????

   If your child is 7 / 8 / 9 years old, keeps his mouth open in sleep, while watching television, playing video games etc., then your child is very likely to develop crooked forwardly placed teeth with associated jaw bone problems.

   It is very easy to correct these problems at the starting stage itself and DenSure Plus precisely does that. However conventionally the approach of most dentists has been different.

Conventional management of crooked teeth

• Conventionally children with crooked teeth are made to wait till their 14th year by most dentists and then advised for braces (Orthodontic) treatment. Unfortunately many of the habits such as mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, thumb sucking become deep-seated leading to severe jaw bone discrepancies and major tooth alignment problems. This delayed intervention means that the challenge for the Braces Doctor (The Orthodontist) is very tough.

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