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All parents want their children to receive the best comprehensive dental treatment possible. Even a skilled pediatric dentist may occasionally have limited success completing dental treatment for a fearful or pre-cooperative child as well as for a child with special needs. Younger children typically experience a degree of stranger anxiety, a short attention span, and a limited tolerance for keeping their mouth open. The complexity and magnitude of the dental treatment may also reduce the success of behavior management or non-medication strategies by the dental team. Subsequent delays in receiving proper dental care can lead to oral pain, infections, loss of teeth and loss of space for future eruption of permanent teeth.
In these circumstances, anesthesia services are available for your child’s dental treatment. A qualified anesthesiologist who uses medications and monitors equal to those currently used in hospitals can provide this care. Children are often given a sedative prior to receiving their primary inhalation or intravenous anesthetic. Each child receives an individually prepared and titrated anesthetic with close and continuous monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and patient awareness. They remain in a general anesthetic state with profound amnesia and pain control throughout their dental treatment. This enables the treating dentist to efficiently and safely complete all planned dental or surgical treatment in the shortest amount of time. Most children are ready to return home soon after the completion of their dental treatment.
