
Dental Fillings in Children: What You Need to Know
A dental filling restores a child's decayed or broken tooth using composite, amalgam or glass ionomer; the child should not eat for the first 2 hours.
Clinical experience, misunderstood concepts and frequently asked questions. Notes from many years of practice.

A dental filling restores a child's decayed or broken tooth using composite, amalgam or glass ionomer; the child should not eat for the first 2 hours.

Full-mouth dental implants replace a whole arch on 4 to 8 implants carrying one fixed bridge or removable overdenture; treatment runs 3 to 12 months.

Pooled across 20 studies, 40% of pregnant women had periodontitis. Here is which dental work belongs before conception and what fluoride does and does not do.

Pooled global prevalence of early childhood caries is 48 percent across 59,018 children, while resin sealants cut caries by 11 to 51 percent at 24 months. Eruption timing and behaviour management sit here too.

In two trials with 1,711 adults, six-monthly scale and polish reduced calculus. Anticalculus toothpastes cut new deposits by 39% to 55% against placebo.

Three tooth numbering systems are in use: Universal (1 to 32), Palmer and FDI (11 to 48). FDI is preferred because its first digit names the quadrant.

Feminine and masculine smiles are design conventions, not biological categories: in 15 studies, no crown dimension reached 80% accuracy for sex estimation.

Choosing a dentist comes down to seven checks: credentials, documented experience, digital diagnostics, services, reviews, emergency care and language.

A systematic review of 233 articles from 49 countries found out-of-pocket payment ahead of dental fear. Here is how insurance acceptance is settled.