A child's first visit to the dentist can be quite stressful and understandably so. This is all new to them. They are in a strange office, on a really big chair, and a stranger is looking inside their mouth.
However, preventive care is essential for your little one's oral health and you shouldn't avoid or postpone their dental visits. There are ways you can help them feel more relaxed while in the dentist's chair and sedation is one of them.
Sedation dentistry can help your child feel calm at the dentist, allowing them to examine their teeth and perform the needed treatment.
Your child may benefit from mild to deep sedative medications depending on the complexity of the dental intervention to be performed, their level of stress and anxiety, and their medical history.
Keep in mind that in most cases, sedation dentistry will not make your child unconscious but, it will help them relax and maybe fall asleep.
If your child is suffering from more severe anxiety, deeper sedation levels may be needed to help them relax.
Local sedation can provide painless dental intervention, but this will not help alleviate the anxiety your child might feel.
That's why, we here at Pediatric Dental World, offer sedation dentistry so that our little patients get the treatment they need in a calm and relaxed environment.
Here are the common types of sedation offered.
With minimal sedation, your little one will be awake, but they will feel completely relaxed. The child will be given nitrous oxide (or "laughing gas,") a sedative that exerts its function very quickly, but the effect disappears just as quickly.
Your child will be able to resume their daily activities a few hours after the intervention.
With moderate sedation, your child will not remember almost any detail of the intervention, although they were awake throughout it.
Moderate sedation is usually administered to the child one hour before the start of the intervention, through oral sedation.
Under the effect of deep sedation, your child is asleep but is not completely unconscious.
This method of sedation is administered intravenously and is used only for complicated and invasive dental interventions.
During general anesthesia, your child will be completely unconscious.
This method of sedation is administered by inhalation, and your little one will not be left with any memory of the dental intervention.
Sedation dentistry may present some risks to your child, but if this procedure is performed by a specialist dentist, these risks are minimal.
An experienced dentist will know how to use sedatives in the best possible way and will be able to monitor the vital signs of the child throughout the intervention to ensure your child's safety.
If your child suffers from anxiety when they need to visit the dentist's office, sedation dentistry is an ideal way to get rid of it and provide a relaxed and trouble-free dental procedure. At Pediatric Dental World, we offer a safe and friendly environment for your little ones so that they can get the treatment they need.
Contact us now to book your appointment.
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