Every child is different, and we want your child to feel as comfortable as possible when coming to see us. One of our favorite things to hear is when parents tell us how excited their children are to come to the office.
Part of making your child feel comfortable is alleviating any anxiety that he or she might feel about dental visits. We can provide a number of different sedation treatment methods to best meet the needs of your anxious child.
Laughing Gas
Laughing gas allows patients to remain fully conscious but feel a deeper sense of calm and relaxation. It can also help patients who have severe gag reflexes because the gas itself has mild anti-pain properties.
Because the effects of laughing gas last only a very short time, children can return to school after their dental treatments.
Oral Conscious Sedation
This is a form of treatment in which patients come to their appointments a little early and are given a small dose of anti-anxiety medication.
When the medication takes effect, your child will still be conscious but may feel sleepy. The majority of this effect is over after an hour, but your child may still feel tired for the rest of the day.
In-Office IV Sedation or Hospital Dentistry
If your child is very young, has special health care needs, or has severe dental anxiety with extensive treatment needs, he or she may benefit from either in-office IV sedation or treatment in a hospital setting.
Offering in-office sedation can help your child feel more comfortable because he or she will be in a familiar environment. During IV sedation, you child will be asleep and monitored by an anesthesiologist and a sedation team in order to ensure the safety and efficacy of the anesthesia.
When your child wakes up, all of the treatment will have been completed, and he or she will be able to return home.
Because our office also treats patients with a variety of special healthcare needs, there are some patients who will be best treated in a hospital setting. Dr. Field is a Board Certified Pediatric Dentist with hospital privileges at Children’s Medical Center, which allows us to provide this option.
Call Us for a Consultation Today
Because each child is different, there is no cookie cutter treatment that is best for every patient. At Shoreline Pediatric Dentistry, we realize that with each child comes unique opportunities and challenges in how we can care for your child’s oral health.
Having multiple methods of treatment allows our office to formulate a treatment plan specific to your child’s individual needs.
If you have concerns about sedation dentistry or are eager to learn more, we would love to assist you. Call us today to set up a consultation.