The dentist's office can be a frightening place for a child. All of those new faces and sounds. Luckily, dental sedation is available to help children relax during their visit. Here, our dentists share some of the different types of dental sedation and how safe this option is for children.
You may know that your child gets nervous at the dentist or they may have special needs and require some help relaxing when it comes to experiences such as visiting the dentist. Dental sedation allows us to help your child relax for the duration of their dental visit. Our dentists are often asked if sedation is safe for children undergoing dental treatment.
When trained and experienced dental professionals administer dental sedation, sedation and anesthesia are a safe way for children to receive the necessary and critical dental healthcare they require.
The dentist's office is typically one of the places where children feel the most anxiety and so we may recommend completing the visit while your child is receiving dental sedation. With dental sedation, our team can help your child associate their visit with a positive experience allowing them to be more receptive to dental visits in the future.
Dental Sedation: Is It Safe For Children?
Dental sedation for children is typically one of three specific types. These types of sedation are:
Nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas, can help calm young patients who are anxious, nervous or frightened. Nitrous Oxide is delivered via a face mask, and will relax the patient and promote euphoric feelings, but will not make the patient unconscious or impair their reflexes.
Oral sedation can take up to 20 minutes to take effect, so it's given to the patient when they first arrive for their dental appointment. Oral sedation will not make the patient unconscious but may relax the patient enough for them to actually fall asleep.
General anesthesia may be recommended by children's dentists for patients with high pain sensitivity, serious behavioural challenges, limited understanding and/or with special needs. Under general anesthesia, the patient becomes unconscious so that their reflexes are completely relaxed. If a patient receives general anesthesia they will have no recollection of the dental procedure and they will not have felt anything throughout their visit.
If your child is due for a dental visit and you would like to learn more about the dental options available, our dental team would be happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you may have.