Child Patient
To insure the best and smoothest sedation, the
following forms below should be downloaded and read carefully
and completely. If the forms have not been mailed to you,
they may be printed and brought to the appointment. Please
follow all instructions and guidelines carefully, any divergence
will decrease the safety of the procedure.
For your convenience, the forms are available
in Adbobe Acrobat and Word formats. If necessary, you can
download the Adobe Acrobat Reader at the bottom of this page.
To download Adobe Acrobat Reader,
click Get Adobe Reader icon, below:
DENTAL TREATMENT
A CHILD'S PERSPECTIVE:
When a child is not asleep, dental treatment
can be a traumatic and frightening experience. They are expected
to sit and cooperate while some stranger pokes instruments
deep into their mouth, which is contrary to basic animal instinct.
(How many non-food items can you put in your pet's mouth?)
Most dental procedures involve getting numb
(a "shot"), lots of water (that they're not supposed
to swallow), and a loud drill with a sharp bur spinning at
36oo rpm. If they move their head, even slightly, while the
drill is spinning they can ruin the tooth (leading to extraction),
or cut their lip, tongue or cheek.
IS MY CHILD TOO YOUNG?
Healthy children as young as 2 years old are
routinely sedated in the Dental Office. By age two, most medical
conditions that impact the use of sedation have been discovered
and most excessive drooling from teething has stopped.
GOING TO SLEEP FOR DENTAL TREATMENT
Intravenous Anesthesia enables:
• Safe and controlled dental treatment
• No memory of any treatment
• Multiple appointments can be condensed into one session
• No emotional trauma from going to the Dentist
• Hospital like conditions and monitoring
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BENEFITS OF I.V. SEDATION/GENERAL ANESTHESIA
PERFORMED BY THE DENTAL ANESTHESIOLOGIST
A Dentist Anesthesiologist is a person who has completed
Dental School and a Residency in Dental Anesthesia. There
are currently 7 two-year programs in the country that offer
this training. DA’s trained in the two year programs
not only have experience in sedating patients during dental
procedures, but also have performed in a the hospital operating
room setting for various dental and medical procedures. Our
two years of training allows us to perfect and finesse the
Sedation techniques to allow the patient to safely receive
dental treatment. We are trained to prevent, recognize and
treat any and all possible complication.
Oral Sedation should be performed only by
a trained Pediatric Dentist and involves the child drinking
medication to help them become sedated and more cooperative.
The dose of the oral medication is determined by the weight
of the child and is administered 30 to 60 minutes prior to
the procedure. The major drawback of oral sedation is that
the response to any medications is relatively unpredictable.
The medication may have no effect, provide mild sedation,
deep sedation, or cause hyperactivity. Many times the child
will still require the physical restraints of a papoose board
to decrease the chance of movement and the risk of self injury.
This can become a traumatic event for the child especially
if more than one appointment is required. The Pediatric Dentist
must monitor the progress of the sedation, breathing and heart
rate and concurrently perform the dentistry.
I.V. Sedation/General Anesthesia is performed
by a trained Dentist Anesthesiologist. With the medication’s
dosage based on weight, the child is rendered cooperative
with an initial shot to the arm or leg. This will relax the
child to facilitate the placement of an Intra Venous line.
Older children, if cooperative enough, may skip the shot in
the arm or leg and have the I.V. line placed while on the
parent’s lap. This eliminates the need for the medication
named Ketamine (a strong but safe medication.) Medications
are delivered through the I.V. line to the specific needs
of the patient. The action of the medications is safe, immediate,
accurate and predictable. No physical restrains are needed
and there is no memory of the procedure by the child. Multiple
procedures and multiple appointments can be completed in one
session and the risk of traumatizing the child is eliminated.
Newly developed medications tailored for the needs of dental
procedures make I.V. Sedation/General Anesthesia safer than
ever before. With an Anesthesiologist experienced with working
with young children and dedicated solely to the anesthesia,
anesthetic safety increases and the Pediatric Dentist is free
to concentrate on the dental procedures. Efficiency increases
and precision is achieved.
Monitoring and emergency equipment are always present for
both types of procedures.
You are encouraged to ask questions. Please feel free. |
