Sedation options for treatment

Your child will be in gentle, competent hands with the experienced team at Children’s Dentistry.  We are all committed to providing safe and effective sedation options for our patients. We use all of the appropriate equipment to monitor vital signs, and maintain the necessary emergency equipment and medicine to safely perform each case.

We frequently speak to parents that describe their negative experiences in the dental office when they 
were children, and how they remember it vividly to this day as adults. Our goal is to help minimize or even eliminate 
the emotional stress that can be 
associated with dental treatment.  We will treat your children with the utmost compassion and empathy, and do everything we can to make their visits with us as pleasant and non-threatening as possible.

We offer three different types of sedation: Nitrous Oxide, Oral Conscious Sedation and General Anesthesia.

Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas, is one of the safest and most predictable sedative agents available in dentistry, and has been used safely for decades. It is administered with a mixture of oxygen, and helps relax and calm our patients within a few minutes. Because it is a mild sedative, patients are awake and can still communicate with us during treatment.

Oral Conscious Sedation

The second sedation option that we offer is Oral Conscious Sedation.  The medicine is given in the office, and your child can watch a movie or play quietly while we wait for it to take effect. Conscious sedation has the benefit of making children drowsy and less reactive during dental treatment. However, every child reacts differently. Half of the children that are sedated respond extremely well to the sedation.  There is little to no crying or distress. Some may drift off to sleep, but are aroused easily. Others will giggle, sing or just stare off into space.

The other half of the children sedated will respond completely differently. These children will display different degrees of uncooperativeness. Some may fuss a bit throughout, while others will yell and be angry.   We cannot guarantee 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.

General Anesthesia

We have patients who are not able to have dental treatment performed in a routine office setting.  In some of these situations, oral conscious sedation is not feasible or possible, or has been attempted but was not successful in managing a child’s behavior. When no other options are possible, dental treatment can be performed under general anesthesia.  At Children’s Dentistry we offer two options for general anesthesia, office or hospital based. 

Office based anesthesia

Some children because of their young age or due to the large amount of treatment they require would benefit from something more than what nitrous oxide or oral sedation can provide. Office based anesthesia is an option that Dr Cara may discuss with you. With office based anesthesia your child is put to sleep for the dental procedure by a dentist anesthesiologist while the pediatric dentist completes the dental treatment in one visit.

Children’s Dentistry is honored to have dentist anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Batdorff and pediatric dentist Dr. Jay Enzler work with us providing office based general anesthesia services.  Both Dr. Batdorff and Dr Enzler are highly trained in the field of outpatient dental anesthesia and pediatric dental restorative care.

Hospital based anesthesia

Not all children are candidates for office based anesthesia.  Children who are medically compromised, or are developmentally disabled are best served in the hospital environment. After your child’s dental assessment Dr Cara may discuss with you the option of having your child sedated at the hospital with a medical anesthesiologist while she completes the dental treatment. Dr. Cara maintains operating room privileges at Central Washington Hospital.