What should I do if my child has pulpitis?

The phenomenon of pulpitis in children is relatively common, mainly because children do not pay attention to oral health and hygiene. Therefore, we must pay attention to the correct response and solution. The emergency treatment measure is to perform pulpotomy and drainage.

1. The treatment of pulpitis varies depending on the type and severity of the disease. In particular, the treatment principles and methods of deciduous teeth and young permanent teeth are determined by the correct diagnosis and the age of the child. The first issue in pulpitis treatment is emergency treatment. Because the pain of acute pulpitis is severe and unbearable, the pain should be relieved first and conditions for further treatment should be created. Try to avoid using only drugs or acupuncture for analgesia.

2. Emergency treatment mainly involves pulpotomy and drainage. For early pulpitis, local anesthesia is required to penetrate the pulp cavity at the point closest to the pulp corner or the thinnest part of the caries wall to expose the pulp, discharge the inflammatory products, reduce the pressure in the pulp cavity, and relieve the pain. Because in the early stage of pulpitis, the pulp tissue is still living or partially living, and the exudate is mainly blood. After the anesthetic effect wears off, sometimes there is still pain even under anesthesia. After the pulp is opened, a loose cotton ball dipped in painkillers should be placed in the hole to relieve the pain, otherwise food embedded in the hole will still cause severe pain. In the late stage of pulpitis, the exudate after pulp opening is mostly pus, blood or pus, and the pulp tissue is generally partially or completely necrotic, so the pain is reduced or painless, but a cotton ball dipped in medicine should also be placed in the caries cavity to prevent food from blocking the pulp opening.

3. The medullary opening method generally uses a sharp small drill bit to drill through the medullary wall, or uses an excavator to dig through the medullary wall. In the absence of special equipment, a sharp thick needle, awl or other sharp instruments can be used to penetrate the medullary wall to achieve the purpose of decompression and pain relief. But attention should be paid to the disinfection of instruments. There is no need to rinse the caries cavity before pulp opening, because early pulpitis is very sensitive to cold and heat and can easily cause severe pain. After the pulp is opened, the inflammatory products are discharged and you can rinse your mouth with warm water to remove the discharge.

4. When there are no conditions for pulp opening, you can first rinse your mouth with warm water to remove food debris in the caries cavity. If possible, gently remove some of the very soft decay, avoid pressure, use a small cotton ball to wet the cavity dry, and place a small cotton ball soaked in painkillers such as camphor phenol, eugenol or toothache water into the cavity to temporarily relieve the pain. But you should seek dental treatment promptly.