Treatments
Treatments
Evidence-based pediatric dental treatments for every age — from prenatal guidance through the teenage years. Medically reviewed for parents.
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Understand the conditions these treatments address
Evidence-based pediatric treatments
The treatments your child may actually need — and the ones they don't
This treatments library is our attempt to close the biggest information gap in family dentistry: parents almost never see the underlying evidence for what's being recommended to their kid. Every entry here is written to the same template — indication, alternative, expected outcome, failure rate at 24 months, aftercare, cost band and the recommendation grade from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. Where evidence is weak or contested (SDF on permanent teeth, laser frenectomies for breastfeeding infants, MI paste as a monotherapy), we say so. Where a lower-tech option performs as well as a higher-cost one (Hall Technique versus formal pulpotomy-plus-crown for asymptomatic caries), we recommend the lower-tech option. Nothing here replaces an in-person exam, but it should let you walk into one better informed than most adults ever are.
Treatments are grouped by clinical intent rather than by CDT code, because parents don't think in codes — they think in problems. If your child's toothache wakes them at 3am, you want to know what's likely happening in the nerve, whether waiting until Monday morning is safe, and what a good emergency dentist will and won't do in a single visit. If the school screening flagged a fissure that might be a cavity or might just be stain, you want to know which imaging and diagnostic tools give a real answer without radiation you don't need. If Instagram sold you on a myofunctional appliance, you want an honest read on which craniofacial phenotypes actually benefit. Every treatment page is medically reviewed and versioned so you can see when the evidence — or our interpretation — last changed.
The four things this pillar actually covers
Preventive treatments
Sealants, fluoride varnish, SDF for high-caries-risk kids, xylitol protocols, motivational interviewing for diet change. Cheap, safe and disproportionately impactful in the first eight years of life.
Minimally-invasive restorative
ART (atraumatic restorative technique), Hall crowns, resin infiltration, and interim therapeutic restorations — treatments that stabilise caries without the drilling that traumatises anxious kids.
Endodontic and pulp therapy
Indirect pulp cap, pulpotomy, pulpectomy and pediatric root canal — matched to the tooth's remaining lifespan and the child's ability to tolerate the visit.
Growth-guiding orthodontics
Habit appliances, palatal expanders, functional appliances and clear aligners for teens — with an honest read on which cases benefit from Phase-I intervention and which can wait.
How it works
Four steps from question to answer
Find the treatment
Search by name or scroll the age-band and category filters — the results narrow to just what applies to your child.
Understand the evidence
Each page includes the AAPD/EAPD recommendation grade and the failure rate you should discuss with your dentist.
Compare alternatives
Sidebar links show the other legitimate treatments for the same diagnosis so consent is a real choice, not a checkbox.
See who provides it
Filter our specialist directory by treatment offered, sedation options, insurance accepted and languages spoken.
Frequently asked
Answers to the questions parents ask us most
How do I know a recommended treatment is really necessary?
Ask for the diagnostic evidence: bitewing radiograph, ICDAS caries score, laser fluorescence reading or a clear intra-oral photo. If the dentist can't show you why the treatment is indicated, a second opinion is fair game. Our treatment pages list the diagnostic minimum for each intervention.
What's the difference between a pulpotomy and a root canal for a baby tooth?
A pulpotomy removes the infected coronal pulp and preserves the healthy radicular tissue, taking one visit and costing less; a full pulpectomy (pediatric root canal) is reserved for teeth where infection has reached the root canals. Success rates at 24 months are 85–95% for pulpotomies with a stainless-steel crown.
Are silver-coloured crowns safe? Can we get white ones instead?
Prefabricated stainless-steel crowns are the gold-standard restoration for multi-surface caries in primary molars, with 95%+ survival to exfoliation. White zirconia crowns are aesthetic but demand more tooth reduction, cost 2–3× more and have higher rates of debonding on lower molars.
Is sedation necessary for treatment, or is there another option?
Behaviour guidance techniques — tell-show-do, distraction, nitrous oxide — resolve the vast majority of pediatric visits without deeper sedation. Oral or IV sedation is indicated when treatment need is high and behaviour barriers are documented, not as a first-line convenience.
How long do baby-tooth treatments actually last?
It depends on the treatment and the time-to-exfoliation. A composite in an incisor near natural loss might only need to survive 12–24 months; a stainless-steel crown on a second primary molar in a 5-year-old needs to survive 6–7 years, which is exactly why crowns outperform large fillings on posterior teeth.