Has anyone heard of children getting root canals?

My eleven year old son developed a sore in his mouth. He had no pain but I scheduled an immediate dental appointment for him. Because of the holidays and the fact that he was visiting me (his regular dentist is out of state) I took him to the first doctor that would see him.





The dentist stated that he had an abcess and needed a root canal on his baby tooth. My son was given antibiotics and told to return in a week.





After talking with my ex-wife and family we decided to take my son to his regular dentist-a pediatric dentist-for a second opinion.





Has anyone else heard of root canals on children? Was this doctor trying to take advantage of me?

Has anyone heard of children getting root canals?
No he wasn't lying to you. It is called a pulpotomy. A baby tooth is meant to stay in place until the adult tooth is fully developed and ready to come in. If the baby tooth is removed too early, this can cause the teeth to shift and could result in the child having to get braces in the future in order for the teeth to be properly aligned.





If the tooth is abcessed, the infection needs to be removed. The source of the infection is the inside of the tooth, and the procedure to remove the inside of this tooth is called a pulpotomy, or baby root canal.


Edit: Please, don't listen to the advice you were given by the first answerer. She is completely wrong. Just a prime example of why I say people with very little or no true dental knowledge shouldn't give dental advice. The dentist who answered earlier is accurate.
Reply:Whoa this was a baby tooth? That doesn't sound right, if it's a baby tooth it should just be pulled since it will fall out anyway as he gets older.
Reply:YES! My then seven year-old sister (who's now 10) had a massive root canal, and they removed several teeth.
Reply:I hav eheard of children getting root canals lots of my friends have had them im 13. I never had them
Reply:I got one done when i was younger like 10 i think. but it was on a big teeth, not a baby. Good luck
Reply:Yes, it is called a pulpotomy.


It's done on a primary (baby) tooth to handle the abscess and allow the tooth to stay in place so that the permanent tooth underneath can erupt into place properly.





They are simple and very effective on children.
Reply:I had a root canal because of an abcess when I was 12, but it was an adult tooth. The fact that it's a baby tooth makes it a little suspicious
Reply:People of any age can get a Root Canal... My friend, now 14, has been getting Root Canals every now and again since he was 4 or 5. He has a history of bad teeth and doesn't take good care of his teeth. He was basically just adopted into my family because who he was with couldn't handle him right now. Sorry I went off topic anyways... He would know more about it than I do. I'm just the one fasinated in dentistry.