Dental appointments can make some children feel uneasy or anxious, especially if they know they are going for a filling or surgical procedure. At Little Bytes Pediatric Dentistry, our pediatric dental services team is well-trained and experienced in helping calm children’s fears and anxiety simply through conversation and explanation during procedures.
If a little extra help is needed, we offer safe sedation dentistry for kids in Palo Alto to help them relax for restorative dentistry and other dental treatments.
There are multiple levels of sedation dentistry, but the safest and most commonly used methods for kids are nitrous oxide, oral sedation, and general anesthesia.
Nitrous oxide is a mild sedative that won’t put your child to sleep and wears off quickly. The nitrous oxide is blended with oxygen that your child breathes in through a mask. After a few minutes, they begin feeling calm and relaxed, but they can still respond to commands.
Oral conscious sedation requires a prescription from a pediatric dentist for an oral sedative. These provide mild to moderate sedation, depending on the dosage and type of medication. Your child will be conscious during the procedure and will be able to respond to commands, although they might fall asleep.
Sometimes, treatment cannot be safely completed while the child is awake, or nitrous oxide won’t be effective. In those instances, general anesthesia can be used.
This sedation is administered by a board-certified anesthesiologist who monitors your child throughout the procedure. When under general anesthesia, your child will fall into a deep sleep and not remember anything upon waking up.
For most kids, sedation dentistry is safe. However, there could be risks for patients with certain health conditions.
Many experts consider nitrous oxide the safest form of sedation for kids, though many procedures using laser dentistry may not require sedation at all. This is because nitrous oxide wears off quickly and is easy to control. Most patients experience no long-term side effects from using nitrous oxide.
Want to learn more about safe sedation for kids’ dentistry in Palo Alto?
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