Sedation Dentistry

General anesthesia is a deeper level of sedation requiring no cooperation from your child. The child will fall asleep in the parent’s arms while breathing in a gas. An anesthesiologist will then start an IV and intubate the child so that he remains sleeping for the entire procedure. Children can require general anesthesia for many reasons including, young age, uncooperative behavior, large number of dental cavities, medically compromising condition/special needs children or because oral sedation was not successful in the past.

For this option the child will be put to sleep by a board certified anesthesiologist and our pediatric dentist will perform the dental treatment.

Children and adolescents with dental cavities who are very young or who have a high level of anxiety that interferes with the cooperation necessary for the dentist to perform treatment may require some level of sedation. Sedation is also helpful for special needs or medically compromised children in order to treat their cavities safely. There are many safe and effective sedation treatment options available today that can help relax the child and promote a good environment for optimal and safe dental treatment.

The following patients may be candidates for sedation during their visit:

• Infants
• Children who require major treatment
• The very anxious child or adolescent
• Children that have had traumatic dental experiences
• Children with a strong gag reflex
• Children who are medically compromised or who are special needs