Sedation Options

Don’t let fear of going to a pediatric dentist get in the way of your child’s oral health!

Dental hygiene is an important aspect of your kid’s oral and overall health. Fear about going to a pediatric dentist is common in both children and parents which can cause them to neglect getting regular dental checkups, exams and cleanings. This can lead to several problems such as tooth decay, swelling of the gums and overall poor health. Therefore, our Pediatric Dentists in Indianapolis and West Lafayette offer several sedation options to greatly help reduce your child’s fear and anxiety about seeing a pediatric dentist, even for the simplest of procedures. These sedation options also help them with more invasive surgery procedures when necessary. A few factors our pediatric dentists will consider when recommending sedations options include but are not limited to:

  • General fear and anxiety level
  • Ability to focus (follow direction and sit still)
  • Invasive or extensive pediatric dental procedures
  • Special needs or any other uniquenesses that challenge pediatric dental care

Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)

Depending on the anxiety level of your child, their unique needs, and their prescribed treatments, our Children’s dentists in Indianapolis and West Lafayette may recommend the combination of inhaled nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and oxygen as a safe and effective means of managing both pain and anxiety. Parents who are concerned about this treatment should be aware that inherent safety margins for the proper administration of nitrous oxide-oxygen sedation have no less than 12 delivery system audio and visual safety features that have been developed to help avoid adverse events during administration. Rest assured our kid’s dentists take all precautions necessary and will discuss all options with you to determine the best course of action well in advance.

General Anesthesia in an Operating Room

In some cases our children’s dentists in Indianapolis and West Lafayette may recommend undergoing general anesthesia. These cases include but are not limited to a child’s extreme fear and anxiety, an overly short attention span, extremely invasive or potentially painful procedures, and whether or not a child has any developmental or other unique circumstances where complete sedation makes the most sense. If this sounds like something that interests you in the well being of your child, please be sure to discuss and indicate this with our pediatric dental team during your intake process.

Where do we perform our surgeries and / or administer general anesthesia?

Due to the potential risks in administering anesthesia as well as the challenge of performing more complicated surgeries, our pediatric dentists and dental surgeons don’t perform surgeries at our pediatric dental offices in Indianapolis or in West Lafayette. For over 2 decades we have partnered with Carmel Ambulatory Surgery Center, a state of the art free-standing surgery center located in Carmel Indiana. Their fully equipped operating rooms and competent support staff offer our pediatric dentists / surgeons the latest in technology and care for our patients. Their award winning staff (named 2022’s top ambulatory surgery center by Newsweek Magazine – see article below) and facility is fully licensed by the State Department of Health in Indiana, certified by Medicare and accredited by the AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care).

Who will be administering my child general anesthesia?

Due to the potentially delicate nature of administering general anesthesia our pediatric dentists utilize highly qualified pediatric anesthesiologists that are specifically trained in administering anesthesia to children. So although our pediatric dentists will be performing the procedure on your kid, they will bring in a separate pediatric anesthesiologist to ensure that everything goes perfectly without any complications or adverse side effects. If you have concerns about this treatment we are more than happy to discuss all aspects of this procedure to ensure that you and your child feel completely comfortable with everything well before the day of your child’s procedure.

 
Carmel Abulatory Surgery Center
America’s Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2022