Is It Your Turn Yet?

"Is It Your Turn Yet?
June 2010

Child Sedation In Dentistry


The good news about children growing up today is that with good snacks, nutrition, fluoride supplementation and good home care, almost all of the children in our practice, are growing up without cavities. The bad news is that it does not include everyone. Sometimes, a young child needs to have dental fillings or extractions.

It is the philosophy of our office that all dental experiences need to be positive. The necessary shots, drilling, pressure, etc. for a child who, hopefully, will never need much dental care afterwards, can make it a negative experience. We find that approximately 50% of adults report a fear of going to the dentist. This highlights the critical importance to having these first experiences be positive ones.

In our office, both Dr. Steinke and Dr. Caruso are trained and certified in providing sedation dentistry for children. This is extremely safe and is accomplished utilizing oral medications given just prior to the dental visit and using N2O (laughing gas) during the procedure. For safety reasons, it is imperative to use the smallest amount of medication necessary to accomplish the treatment. The doctors judge the patient and give an appropriate amount of medication within the safety zone. With an expanded team of trained assistants, much can be accomplished in a short period of time – usually 30-40 minutes.

The child lies comfortably on the chair. Sometimes he/she is wrapped in a Velcro vest for safety so that the child’s motion is minimized. The child is in a semi sleepy state, has music in their ears, and is usually very cooperative which allows the dental team to quickly and efficiently accomplish the necessary treatment.

As this is a very light sedation, there are times when a child may cry, but the treatment can be accomplished and the child rarely remembers the experience. Our mentors, teaching the advanced course on sedation, always remind us that a crying child is an alive child. Sedating children is safe and effective when done properly, but one can go on the internet and find cases that were done improperly and turned out with very bad circumstances. Our office has been doing sedation dentistry on children for 30 years without one incident categorized as a dangerous or emergency situation.

Our hope is that your child or grandchild has a similar experience like the over 90% of kids growing up in our practice over the past 25 years and never need to have a filling. However, if a child does require dental care more than simply a cleaning or sealant, their experience should be comfortable and safe, leaving them with a positive feeling about their future dental experiences.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.