The dentist's office can cause anxious feelings for patients of all ages but can be especially so for young children. Luckily there are options to help your child relax such as dental sedation. Here, our Surrey dentists talk about the different types of dental sedation and how safe this option is for your child.
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. One way that your child can be assisted with relaxing is by using dental sedation. Our Surrey 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. By reducing the stress and anxiety levels of a particularly nervous child, sedation can play a key role in providing children with positive dental experiences.
Dental Sedation: Is It Safe For Children?
Children that opt to receive dental sedation are usually given one of three 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 you have any questions or concerns about dental sedation or other services you have heard about, our team of dental professionals would be happy to discuss them with you.