WHAT IS SEDATION?
Comfort and safety are our 1st priority
We want your children to be comfortable, relaxed, and happy while the lay back and receive dental care.
We want all of our patients to have a great dental experience and be excited to come back. Our goal is for children to build positive memories of the dentist from an early age to help them establish healthy patterns for the rest of their lives. The majority of children do great for treatment with just a movie playing overhead and maybe some nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas). Other children will benefit from an oral sedation medication, and some will do better with deep IV sedation or general anesthesia. We will evaluate your child and talk through which type, if any, would be the best fit. We will discuss the benefits and the risks of each option and any questions or concerns that may arise to find the right option for your child. We believe that parent’s comfort is as important as child’s comfort.
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas is a safe, odorless gas that is inhaled through a flavored mask to help kids feel light and happy. It is excellent at reducing any anxiety. The effects wear off almost immediately afterwards and are gone completely within several minutes.Oral Sedation
While most children will be fine with just laughing gas, others will benefit from oral sedation to keep them comfortable, calm, and relaxed. The kids drink a medicine that helps to create a reduced state of awareness during treatment and will be closely supervised by their parent for the remainder of the day. Providing oral sedation for kids, safely and effectively, is one of the key benefits of a pediatric dentist who has received this specialized, additional training.General Anesthesia
In the rare cases where laughing gas and oral sedation may not be enough, general anesthesia may be recommended. An anesthesiologist will put your child to sleep like they would for other medical treatments like getting ear tubes placed or tonsils removed. Since children are asleep during the treatment, they do not remember the experience.
