Whenever parents are told that their child’s baby tooth needs a root canal (commonly known as a “nerve extraction”), there are always many questions and amazements. “Nerve extraction” is really a painful and unpleasant word. However, as society changes, food becomes more refined, and parents pay more attention to their children, root canal treatment of baby teeth has become a significant part of pediatric dentistry, challenging and inescapable. Just as a child is not a shrinking adult, a baby tooth is not just a relatively small tooth. The milk teeth and the permanent teeth have their own germ and pulp tissues and patterns, but they influence each other. The enamel and dentin of baby teeth are thinner and the pulp cavity is larger, so when tooth decay occurs, it will easily affect the pulp tissue (commonly known as “dental nerve”) and cause pulp inflammation, and the treatment needs to consider the possible impact on the permanent tooth germ. When the bacteria of tooth decay affects the pulp tissue, there may be different symptoms, and there are also different considerations on treatment: Reversible pulpitis When the tooth is stimulated by hot or cold, there is a brief stinging sensation, and the pain disappears immediately when the stimulation is removed. If treated early, the pulp tissue still has a chance of returning to health. However, this is a short period of time and children are less articulate. To detect and treat the problem early, it is important to take your child to the dentist regularly for oral examinations, even if he never complains of pain! Irreversible Acute Pulpitis A painful toothache that can kill you! The tooth will sting severely when stimulated by hot or cold, and the pain will continue for some time even after the stimulus is removed. Sometimes the pain can even occur without any stimulation, especially when lying down, when the blood flow to the head is increased and the pulp is obviously filled with blood, often making the child cry for help in the dead of night. Root canal treatment is necessary! The pain is so bad that it is twice as hard for both the adult and the child to deal with it. Irreversible chronic pulpitis The tooth pulp is attacked by bacteria and is dying step by step, but there is only a slight dull and strange discomfort when biting. If you delay day after day, and one day a small abscess swells on the gums or the whole face swells up like a pig’s head before you rush to the doctor, I’m afraid more damage has been done.