Treatment aims to remove the soft, damaged tooth and replace the area with a filling material. Ideally this will restore the function, strength and appearance of the teeth, preserving them until they are due to fall out naturally.
When incisor (front) primary teeth are decayed we can place composite fillings or composite strip crowns. Fillings are ideal if just a small bit of tooth needs to be replaced and strip crowns are better when a lot of tooth is missing and the tooth requires to be fully covered.
Small cavities in molar (back) teeth are repaired with a tooth coloured material. If a lot of tooth is missing a filling will not be successful and is likely to leak or fall out. In these situations a stainless steel crown is advised. These are durable and very successful. A more aesthetic version of these crowns is now available with a tooth coloured surface layer, which may be suitable in some cases.
