CAN ROOT CANAL TREATMENT BE DONE IN KIDS?

A very common question I get from parents is– “Is it safe to do Root canal treatment (RCT) in kids and are there any side effects?”

Yes, root canal treatment can be done in kids (in milk teeth and permanent teeth) when indicated. RCT means removing the infected nerves and blood vessels of the teeth, cleaning the roots and filling the roots with a medicament. This procedure will relieve the pain from the tooth and make the tooth functional in the mouth.

When a child has a deep cavity or infection in a tooth (with or without pain), we take an Xray first to determine if the tooth needs to be removed or be saved by a root canal procedure,

After RCT is done, the tooth should be provided with a crown/cap so that the tooth can be used for normal chewing. RCT has no side effects as such, i.e, doing RCT for a tooth will do no harm to your child. At the same time, if a milk tooth is indicated for RCT and if treatment is not done, then the infection in the milk tooth can spread to the underlying developing permanent tooth. Sometimes, rarely, in cases of re-infection, we may need to repeat the root canal procedure.

So, in short, simple fillings are given when the cavity in the tooth is not very deep. But, if the cavity is deep and close to the pulp (which contains the nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth), RCT needs to be done to save the tooth. The procedure is similar to RCT in adults, only difference being the material used to fill the roots of the teeth. In most cases, a milk tooth which is root canal treated and given a crown will fall off or exfoliate like any other normal tooth when it is time.