Sedation

Children who have extreme levels of decay, who are too young to cooperate during treatment or have other special needs are candidates for an elective dental sedation appointment. Sedation is a behavior management technique that uses medications to assist a child in coping with fear and anxiety and cooperate with dental treatment.   Children may benefit from the relaxing effect of sedation during an otherwise difficult appointment, allowing them to have a more pleasant experience.

Nitrous oxide

Dr. Schroeder offers nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for the slightly anxious child. Nitrous oxide is extremely safe. When your child is breathing nitrous oxide they are receiving more oxygen than they are getting in room air!

Nitrous oxide helps a child who is cooperative but worried about various aspects of their appointment. It isn’t for everyone. It requires a certain amount of cooperation from the child, as they are required to breathe only through a plastic apparatus placed over their nose. If the child is too young or too anxious to sit in a chair and breathe through a nose-piece, nitrous oxide is not an option.

Oral Conscious Sedation

Oral sedation is offered to the anxious, the fearful or the very young patient. It is a management technique that uses medications to assist the child to cope with fear and anxiety.

If your child is a candidate for oral conscious sedation, together you and Dr Schroeder will decide what is the best course of treatment for your child.

General Anesthesia in the Hospital

Dr. Schroeder has staff privileges at Central Washington Hospital.  This means she is able to care for her patients that are in need of dental treatment while completely asleep (general anesthesia).  General anesthesia is not applicable for all patients.  Those children with extensive decay, the child or adult disabled or those patients who are not able to be safely treated in the dental office are considered as candidates for hospital care.  Dr. Schroeder is always primarily concerned with the safety of her patients.  This is the reason that she chooses to do her treatment in the hospital setting with medical anesthesiologists.   Dr. Cara will discuss with you if general anesthesia is an appropriate option  for you child.

Frequently Asked Sedation Questions

WILL MY CHILD SLEEP DURING TREAMENT?
Conscious sedation has the benefit of making children drowsy and less reactive during dental treatment. They may or may not fall asleep. This makes the experience more comfortable for your child and enables the dentist to safely complete the required treatment.  Only in a hospital setting, under general anesthesia are children completely put to sleep.

WILL MY CHILD CRY?
Every child reacts differently; where some sleep peacefully, others may cry.  There are numerous variables that contribute to the success of your child’s appointment.  We cannot promise that your child will not have any negative reactions; but we can promise that we will give your child the same care and compassion that each of us would give our own children.

MAY I ACCOMPANY MY CHILD TO THE TREATMENT ROOM?
During a sedation appointment it is imperative that the focus be solely on your child. For this reason, parents remain in our family room during treatment. For some parents, it is hard to separate from their child. Please remember that it is for the safety and welfare of your child that we allow only sedation personnel in the operatory during sedation appointments.

RISKS
As with any procedure requiring medications, dental treatment with sedation has risks associated with it. Vomiting, allergic reactions, fluctuations in breathing pattern, heart rhythm and/or blood pressure, brain damage and death are all possible side effects.

MEDICAL CLEARANCE
We require our medical clearance form from your child’s Doctor prior to scheduling your sedation appointment. Meeting with your child’s physician gives you the opportunity to ask questions of the physician in addition to your child being medically cleared for treatment.

WHEN MAY I SCHEDULE A SEDATION APPOINTMENT?
We must receive your child’s medical clearance form prior to scheduling the sedation appointment. When we receive the completed clearance form we will call you to schedule.  At that time your non-refundable sedation deposit is due in full.

Our sedation appointments are in high demand and are limited in availability.  We take scheduling these appointments very seriously and expect that parents who choose to schedule these appointments do the same.  We reserve the right to not reschedule your child for a sedation appointment if you miss or cancel without 72 hours notification.