Sedation Dentistry in Lake Worth
We often see children of all ages come in with varying degrees of nervousness and cooperation. Our doctors here at Lake Worth Children's Dentistry have a wide range of behavior guidance techniques that can help calm your child based on his/her needs.
-Nitrous Oxide (aka Laughing gas)
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recognizes this technique as a safe and effective technique to reduce anxiety and enhance effective communication. Nitrous oxide is given through a small breathing mask, which is placed over the child's nose. As long as the child breathes through his/her nose, the child may feel tingly in his/ her hands/feet, but overall the child will feel more relax. A more relaxed child feels less pain and sits more patiently in the dental chair. Nitrous oxide is great for children with a sensitive gag reflex. While inhaling nitrous oxide/oxygen, your child remains fully conscious and keeps all natural reflexes. Nitrous oxide is mild, fast-acting, easily taken, non-addictive, and quickly eliminated from the hod
Prior to your appointment:
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-Please inform us of any change to your child's health and/or medical condition.
-Tell us about any respiratory condition that makes breathing through the nose
difficult for your child. It may limit the effectiveness of the nitrous oxide/oxygen.
-Let us know if your child is taking any medication on the day of the appointment.
-Conscious Sedation
Sometimes a child has too much fear/anxiety that basic behavior guidance techniques like nitrous oxide are not enough. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry states conscious sedation can be used safely and effectively with patients who are very fearful, emotional immature, or with special health care needs. Our experienced doctors will choose the appropriate medication based on your child's health and treatment needs. We will then administer it in office. After about 15-30 minutes, your child may feel drowsy, and may even fall asleep, but they will not become unconscious. We usually use this technique for when a tooth needs to be extracted or a child has a few cavities that needs to be treated.
-IV Sedation
IV Sedation is recommended for children who are very fearful, emotional immature, or with special health care needs that would not work well under conscious sedation or have extensive dental treatment. The dentist performs all of the dental treatment in our office with the child fully asleep while under IV sedation, which is safely administered and monitored by an anesthesiologist we hire.
-Outpatient General Anesthesia
For over 10 years, our doctors have been on staff with full hospital privileges at Cook Children's Hospital and Medical City North Hills. We have some patients, who may be very fearful, emotionally immature, or have special health care needs, meet us at these facilities for outpatient general anesthesia because they have extensive dental treatment or have medical conditions in which a hospital setting would be safer. At these facilities, there will be a team of nurses and doctors who will administer and monitor the general anesthesia, which will render your child completely asleep. While the child is asleep, one of our doctors will complete all of the dental treatment. Afterwards, the anesthesiologist will reverse the general anesthesia; the child will go to recovery and wait to be discharged the same day once the child returns to normal.
