# Dental sedation (x-posted in child health)



## LeaPea (Oct 7, 2009)

My son is nearly three years old, and we found out today that he has four cavities (one in each molar). The dentist is recommending general anesthesia due to the amount of work and his age. The work would be done in office, with the pediatric dentist and a certified dental anesthesiologist. 

Has anyone done this with their young child? The thought of it makes me incredibly nervous.


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## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

My kids had dental work done at that age and younger without sedation. I was worried more about the trauma of anesthesia than that of being awake for it. How can they put patients under in office? I've never heard of doing in outside the hospital. What if there is a reaction, are they equipped to resuscitate him properly there?

I liked this article, seems similar to my experience in many ways.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...25dbf9d_story.html?postshare=3181431439502776


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## violetflapjack (Feb 6, 2009)

I am in the same situation, where the dentist wants to do general anesthetic for my 2 1/2 year old and I'm not sure about it. It makes me very nervous too. We were at the dentist today and I tried to ask about the watch and wait approach, but they acted like they had never heard of it and emphasized the risk of infection or losing the teeth. I know that those can happen with severe tooth decay, but that kind of thing doesn't happen over night, hence the "watching" part of a watch and wait approach. So anyway, I felt like they kind of brushed it off, or just didn't have the kind of information (like risks/benefits kind of stuff, or how long it usually takes for cavities like his to get serious...) I was hoping to do some digging on the internet here and I haven't come up with much. The article above is good (thanks JamieCatherine!) and it kind of got me thinking that it makes sense to do the procedure now because he is so young (even though that's what prompted my hesitation) because the teeth have to last longer. Still though, I can't help but wonder if the dentist is really after a bigger pay check and my kid would be okay waiting until he didn't have to go under...


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