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Sedation Dentistry for Kids
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Medical improvements in dentistry have allowed for children who, prior to such advancements, may not have otherwise been able to receive the treatment necessary to achieve and maintain a healthy smile. Different reasons attribute to such difficulties in allowing for dental work to be completed in situations as such, they include: large amounts of dental work being required, children with special needs and those who overall have generally high levels of anxiety about their required dental treatment. Sedation dentistry has proven to be a valuable asset to pediatric health care providers, as it not only allows procedures to be completed with ease, but more importantly, it allows for a comfortable, stress free environment for the child to receive necessary treatments free of any sort of psychological or emotional trauma. It many cases, after successful treatment under sedation children, with now increased levels of confidence in them self and in the situation, are able to receive latter treatments with only the use of Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas).
Types of Sedation Dentistry
There are multiple sedation dentistry options available for use in pediatric dentistry which include general anesthesia, oral conscious sedation and IV conscious sedation. Of the available options, we at Little Smiles Pediatric Dentistry, offer the use of general anesthesia and oral conscious sedation to our patients.
General Anesthesia (available in-office and in hospital)
 Your dentist may recommend the use of general anesthesia for your child if he finds it essential to perform a complicated dental procedure that may take a long time to complete and that requires your child’s reflexes to be completely relaxed during the process. It is also a useful tool if your child has multiple complicated, or invasive, procedures that need to be performed at the same time. If your child has special needs or certain medical conditions we also may recommend the use of general anesthesia. After careful review and consideration of your child's medical history, we will decide whether or not we feel the procedure is more confidently and comfortably performed in-office or in the hospital. Regardless of the location of the procedure, we at Little Smiles have a close partnership with a trusted and well-experienced dental anesthesiologist who visits our office once or twice a month to assist in the care for patients that require full sedation for their procedures to be complete.
General anesthesia will essentially make your child’s whole body go to sleep. During the process of administering the anesthesia for sedation your child will be given IV medication to assist in helping them fall completely asleep. From start to finish of the required procedures our anesthesiologist will be present closely and constantly monitoring your child throughout, making any necessary adjustments and addressing any concerns that may arise. With the use of general anesthesia your child will have no recollection of the procedures being performed and will feel absolutely no pain during the process.
Appointments requiring the use of general anesthesia generally take a window of six to seven hours and will require a few consultative visits prior to the procedure in which your child’s medical history will be closely reviewed and the necessary procedures required closely discussed. These consultative visits will also allow an appropriate amount of time to make financial arrangements and to properly coordinate with your insurance company assessing your allotted plan benefits.
Oral Conscious Sedation Dentistry
With oral conscious sedation your child will be given liquid medication thirty minutes prior to their procedure. This medication will relax and calm your child, and sometimes can make them sleepy, however, it is not intended to completely put them to sleep. They will still be able to respond to certain stimuli and will have the ability to breathe normally and independently all whilst remaining conscious. In most all cases, your child will have no recollection of the procedures performed, but it is not unheard of for them to remember bits and pieces, thus we are proactive in speaking very positively throughout the procedure so that if your child does have any memory it will be a happy and positive one.
Procedures requiring the use of oral conscious sedation will generally be scheduled in a two hour block of time. During such appointments your child's safety is of the utmost importance to us here at Little Smiles, so we take very seriously to the care you take in following all necessary guidelines and instructions regarding food and drink the day of the appointment as well as the day prior to. If you or we are not one hundred percent confident that such instructions were followed completely in their entirety, we will reschedule the procedure for a later day and a re-booking fee may apply.
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