Our Dental Services:
First Dental Visit
The first dental visit should be before your child’s first birthday. This not only gives pediatric dentists a chance to examine and evaluate your child’s oral health, but it gives us an opportunity to provide education to prevent dental problems before they arise.
Preventative Dentistry
Preventive dentistry is on the forefront of modern dentistry. We utilize a focus on trying to prevent dental problems from arising to begin. Preventive dentistry includes oral hygiene education, dietary education, prophylactic cleaning and fluoride application. Preventive dentistry should be specialized and unique to each individual dependent on their risk of cavities or gum disease.
Atraumatic Restorative Treatment
When treating dental decay, often treatment can be difficult for a child that is unable to cooperate in the chair. Fluoride goes a long way in strengthening the tooth to slow the progression of cavities. Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a medication that can stop the progression of cavities by simply painting the medicine on the tooth. More advanced techniques such as Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), SDF-Modified Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (SMART), or Hall Crowns can prove to be very useful in reducing the need for a sedation while providing restorative dental treatment.
Fillings
Fillings utilize a white composite resin material to replace missing tooth structure destroyed by dental decay. There are limitations with white fillings as they need to mechanically stick to the tooth itself, which requires enough healthy tooth structure to present. In smaller baby teeth, often cavities progress very quickly, making it difficult for white fillings to have enough healthy tooth structure to hold onto.
Stainless Steel Crowns
Stainless steel crowns (SSC) completely cover the entire tooth, restoring the entire tooth’s shape and function. SSCs are composed of iron, chromium, and nickel, and are glued onto a tooth using a resin-based cement. The silver metal of these crowns are ideal for baby teeth, because we are able to bend and shape the metal to fit perfectly for each individual tooth.
Zirconia Crowns
A zirconia crown is a pre-fabricated white crown that can be used instead of the silver stainless steel crown (SSC). The benefits of these crowns are the improved esthetics and ideal compatibility with the surrounding gum tissues. The limitations with placing these crowns are they are much bulkier than an SSC, and can not be placed in a child with too much crowding.
Pulpotomy
A dental pulpotomy is a nerve treatment used to fix teeth where cavities have now entered the nerve of the tooth. A pulpotomy is not as simple as explaining it as a “baby root canal”. A root canal is when the entire nerve root is infected and entirely cleaned out. As baby teeth tend to have very long and slender roots, it is almost impossible to clean the entire root. A pulpotomy will remove as much of the “sick” portion of the nerve as possible, then place a medication to help the “healthy” portion of the nerve heal.
Extractions
When a cavity progresses through the entirety of a tooth, the bacteria causing the cavity will then form an infection under the tooth and into the bone. When there is an infection present, the only option in baby teeth is to extract a tooth. Extractions include the complete removal of a tooth from the bone, allowing the source of the infection to be removed so the body can heal on its own.
Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies are very common in children and should be handled immediately. The most common dental emergency is tooth pain. If a tooth is in pain, we recommend calling us as soon as possible to determine the severity of the issue. We offer a phones service 24/7 to answer any questions a parent may ask. If emergency treatment is required, we can make ourselves available to see the child as soon as is needed. Another common dental emergency is a tooth injury. Accidents happen in children all the time. If a tooth breaks or falls out completely, we recommend contacting our office as soon as possible so our doctor can advise you on the best course of action for your child. Tooth avulsion is the term for a tooth being knocked out. If possible, we recommend finding the tooth and placing it immediately in one of these 3 items: Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (Save-A-Tooth), Whole Milk, or the child’s own saliva. The ability to save a tooth is most determined on how quickly the tooth can be placed in one of those 3 solutions. At all costs, avoid placing the tooth in water or rinsing the tooth with water. Our office will be able to clean the tooth in the most ideal solutions as necessary for the individual situation.
Dental Sedation
Often a child may have difficulty completing treatment in a dental office. We offer dental sedation as a solution to treat teeth before they cause any pain or infection. Here at Fishtown Pediatric Dentistry, we recognize there are serious risks that come along with a sedation. This is why we take these recommendations very seriously. Safety is always our first concern. We prefer to perform our sedations with an anesthesiologist present to monitor your child throughout the entirety of the treatment. We also only complete these treatments under general anesthesia, as this is the safest way for doctors to have complete control of your child’s breathing. Every sedation is completed with the forefront of medications and monitors available.
Hospital Dentistry
Dr. Robin has been given hospital privileges at both the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and St Christopher’s Hospital for Children. This allows him to treat our patients in a hospital setting if necessary. Hospital settings may be required if a child is medically complex and requires hospital staff to help complete dental treatment.
Dentistry For Patients With Disabilities
We take special pride in our treatment of patients with disabilities. Every child who comes to our office receives an individualized dental treatment and behavior guidance plan. This is always child-driven dependent on the needs of each individual. We often will recommend desensitization visits for your child to visit our office more often and become used to the sights, sounds, and smells of a dental space. We offer quiet rooms for children that may require a sensory-reduced environment. As a caregiver, you are the best advocate for your child. Please inform us of any special accommodations you feel would be best for your child. Based on the information provided, we can create your child’s individualized behavior guidance plan even before you come in for your first visit.
Our Office
1122 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19125
Public Transportation
We always recommend taking public transportation to get to us. We are easily accessible by the Market-Frankford Line at the Girard stop. We are also near multiple bus and trolley stops including the G Route 15 trolley at the Girard & Frankford stop, Route 5 at the Girard & Frankford stop, and Route 25 at the Girard & Frankford stop.
Parking
Street parking is available along Frankford avenue and in the neighboring side streets. We recommend closely reading parking signs as there are often time limitations. There is also a parking structure associated with the Rivers Casino that is available.