{"id":182,"date":"2025-08-14T17:21:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/?p=182"},"modified":"2025-09-13T00:40:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T00:40:34","slug":"saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulpotomies and Pulpectomies: Two Procedures for Saving Infected Baby Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Little boy with toothache from infected tooth\" class=\"wp-image-183\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Has your child been complaining about constant pain in one of their baby teeth? There\u2019s a good chance that they could be suffering from an infection, and unless quick action is taken, the tooth could be lost prematurely. Fortunately, infected baby teeth can often be saved with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/pulpotomy.html\">pulpotomy<\/a> or a pulpectomy. Here\u2019s a closer look at these procedures and why having one performed could be essential for protecting your child\u2019s smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are Pulpotomies and Pulpectomies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pulpotomies and pulpectomies can essentially be thought of as root canal treatments for baby teeth. They both involve removing the pulp, which is the innermost layer of the tooth that consists of nerves, blood vessels, and tissues. Sometimes the pulp can become infected due to an untreated cavity; this can result in serious discomfort, and it can put the affected tooth at risk. Infected pulp won\u2019t get better on its own, so the only solution is to have it removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main difference between a pulpotomy and a pulpectomy is the amount of pulp being removed. With a pulpotomy, only the damaged or infected part of the pulp located in the crown of the tooth is taken out. Meanwhile, a pulpectomy is the removal of the entire pulp, including the portion in the roots. The extent of the infection will determine whether a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy is required in your child\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Should Your Child Have a Pulpotomy or Pulpectomy Performed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Baby teeth are meant to eventually fall out on their own. As such, you may be wondering why it\u2019s worth saving an infected baby tooth with a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy; if it isn\u2019t meant to last anyway, wouldn\u2019t it be easier to simply extract it? However, what you may not realize is that losing a baby tooth too early could cause serious problems for your little one\u2019s smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main purpose of the baby teeth is to save space for the permanent teeth and ensure that they come in properly. Thus, if a baby tooth comes out too early, it could lead to alignment issues later on. On top of that, losing baby teeth prematurely could negatively affect your child\u2019s ability to chew and speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, it\u2019s best for your child to keep their baby teeth until they\u2019re ready to fall out naturally. Thus, if one of these teeth becomes infected, the best way to stop your child\u2019s pain and protect their oral health is to have a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy performed as soon as possible. Don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to your pediatric dentist to get your little one the care they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Linda Steele has over three decades of dental experience. She completed her pediatric residency at Children\u2019s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, and she holds membership with the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and other organizations. As a pediatric dentist, she offers gentle pulpotomies to save infected baby teeth. If your child needs treatment for a toothache, you can schedule a consultation with Dr. Linda at her practice in Coppell by visiting her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/request-an-appointment.html\">website<\/a> or calling (972) 315-3355.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Has your child been complaining about constant pain in one of their baby teeth? There\u2019s a good chance that they could be suffering from an infection, and unless quick action is taken, the tooth could be lost prematurely. Fortunately, infected baby teeth can often be saved with a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy. Here\u2019s a closer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/\",\"name\":\"Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-14T17:21:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T00:40:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba9f48b343f18cca7d2af384aba8491\"},\"description\":\"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pulpotomies and Pulpectomies: Two Procedures for Saving Infected Baby Teeth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Linda A. Steele, DDS Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba9f48b343f18cca7d2af384aba8491\",\"name\":\"drlindasteele\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS","description":"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS","twitter_description":"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/","name":"Pulpotomy and Pulpectomy Coppell | Linda A. Steele, DDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-08-14T17:21:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T00:40:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba9f48b343f18cca7d2af384aba8491"},"description":"Does your child have an infected baby tooth? Here\u2019s how a pulpotomy or a pulpectomy may be able to save it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AdobeStock_284640068-1.jpeg","width":300,"height":200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/saving-baby-teeth-pulpotomy-pulpectomy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pulpotomies and Pulpectomies: Two Procedures for Saving Infected Baby Teeth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/","name":"Linda A. Steele, DDS Blog","description":"","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba9f48b343f18cca7d2af384aba8491","name":"drlindasteele"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions\/185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drlindasteele.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}