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Pulp Therapy for Primary Teeth

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Lasers in Endodontics

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Abstract

The primary objective when treating the non-vital or exposed pulp in the primary dentition is to maintain the tooth until it would normally exfoliate and preserve the developing dental arches. A pulpotomy involves the removal of the coronal pulp tissue, and the remaining tissue has been treated with a variety of different medications or procedures. Treatments that have been used for primary teeth pulps include medications formocresol, glutaraldehyde, calcium hydroxide, ferric sulfate, and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and electrosurgery. This chapter will discuss the use of lasers as an alternative to both chemically prepared pulpotomies and electrosurgery. There have been significant advances in the prevention of dental caries and conservative treatment of caries in the primary dentition; however, there still remains the necessity to treat the pulp of primary teeth when the pulp tissue is compromised due to mechanical exposures and when there is reversible pulpitis due to caries, pulpal death due to caries, and trauma to avoid the development of malocclusions from loss of space for the erupting permanent tooth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. private solo specialty practice, 340 Fuller Road, Albany, NY, 12203, USA

    Lawrence Kotlow DDS

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  1. Lawrence Kotlow DDS
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Correspondence to Lawrence Kotlow DDS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. InLaser Rome, Advanced Center for Esthetic and Laser Dentistry, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Olivi

  2. Restorative Dentistry and Endodontology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Roeland De Moor

  3. Arizona School of Dentistryand Oral Health, Mesa, Arizona, USA

    Enrico DiVito

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Kotlow, L. (2016). Pulp Therapy for Primary Teeth. In: Olivi, G., De Moor, R., DiVito, E. (eds) Lasers in Endodontics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19327-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19327-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19326-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19327-4

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