When decay reaches the nerve of your child's baby tooth, a pulpotomy can eliminate the infection, stop the pain, and save the tooth until it naturally falls out. This common pediatric procedure—sometimes called a 'baby root canal'—removes only the infected pulp tissue from the tooth's crown while leaving healthy pulp in the roots intact. At Dental Sedation Ottawa, we perform gentle, effective pulpotomy procedures using comprehensive sedation options—from mild relaxation to complete sleep—ensuring your child receives this important treatment in complete comfort without fear or anxiety.
A pulpotomy is the partial removal of infected or inflamed pulp tissue from a baby tooth. Specifically, we remove the diseased pulp from the crown (the visible part of the tooth above the gums) while leaving the healthy pulp in the roots undisturbed. Think of it as a focused cleaning of the infected area while preserving the tooth's vitality in the root canals.
The pulp is the soft tissue inside every tooth containing nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue. When deep cavities allow bacteria to reach this pulp, infection and inflammation develop. The pulp in the tooth's crown becomes painful and diseased, but often the pulp deeper in the roots remains healthy and capable of maintaining the tooth's vitality.
Pulpotomy takes advantage of this situation by removing only the damaged crown pulp, then covering the healthy root pulp with medicinal materials that promote healing, fight bacteria, and protect against further infection. This allows the tooth to remain alive (vital) and continue developing and functioning normally until it's time for it to naturally fall out and be replaced by the permanent tooth underneath.
These similar-sounding procedures differ in scope and application:
The idea of nerve treatment can sound frightening, but pulpotomy is actually one of the most effective ways to eliminate severe tooth pain and save baby teeth. At Dental Sedation Ottawa, we ensure this procedure is completely comfortable through our comprehensive sedation options.
With appropriate sedation, especially IV sedation or general anesthesia, we can perform pulpotomy on multiple teeth along with other needed treatments—crowns, fillings, extractions, cleanings—all in a single comfortable appointment. One visit, one recovery period, dramatically less overall stress for your family.
Understanding Nerve Infections in Baby Teeth
Before the procedure, we examine your child's tooth and take X-rays to assess decay extent, root health, and surrounding bone. We discuss sedation options based on your child's anxiety level, age, and whether multiple teeth need treatment.
On treatment day, we begin by administering your chosen sedation option. Once your child is comfortable and relaxed (or peacefully asleep with general anesthesia), we ensure complete numbness of the treatment area. Throughout the procedure, our team continuously monitors your child for safety.
We place a rubber dam around the tooth to isolate it from saliva, keep it dry, and protect your child from materials we use. We remove all decayed tooth structure, clean out the cavity completely, and carefully remove all inflamed, infected pulp tissue from the crown portion of the tooth.
We irrigate the chamber with antibacterial solution and assess the root pulp. Assuming root pulp is healthy, we place a medicinal dressing using biocompatible materials like Ferric Sulfate, Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA), or Biodentine. These materials control bleeding, fight bacteria, and promote healing while protecting the root pulp from further infection.
We place a base material over the medicinal dressing and fill the remaining cavity with regular filling material to seal the tooth. Finally, we place a crown—usually stainless steel for back teeth or esthetic crown for front teeth—over the tooth to protect it and restore full chewing function.
Pulpotomy on a single baby tooth takes 20-35 minutes including tooth preparation, nerve treatment, filling, and crown placement. Multiple pulpotomies add approximately 20-25 minutes per additional tooth.
What to expect during recovery and ongoing care
A successfully treated tooth should cause no pain and function normally for years until it naturally falls out. The tooth remains firmly in place, continues growing and developing normally, maintains proper space for the permanent tooth underneath, and your child completely forgets about the treatment.
Success rates for pulpotomy are high (80-95%) when root pulp was truly healthy at time of treatment, proper medicinal materials were used, crown provides good seal preventing bacterial re-entry, and regular monitoring with checkups continues.
The baby tooth will eventually fall out naturally—typically ages 10-12 for back molars, 6-8 for front teeth—with the crown attached, just like un-crowned teeth. The permanent tooth underneath erupts normally.
Why saving baby teeth matters for your child's oral development
Affordable treatment to save baby teeth
Total cost for pulpotomy plus crown ranges $450-800 per tooth for most cases. When multiple teeth require treatment under sedation, sedation fees are additional.
Most pediatric dental insurance plans cover pulpotomy at 50-80% as major restorative treatment when medically necessary to eliminate infection and save teeth. Crown coverage is typically similar (50-80%).
We provide direct billing to major insurance carriers and accept the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP).
When you consider the alternatives—extraction requiring space maintainer ($300-500 additional), loss of chewing function, potential speech problems, and orthodontic complications from premature tooth loss—pulpotomy represents sound investment in your child's oral health and development.
Our patients consistently rate us 5 stars for gentle, anxiety-free care. Read verified patient experiences on Google.
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