Re: Dental Sedation in Kids

ScrapHappy · ‎03-28-2010

@CelticCrafter wrote:
Every time my niece takes her kids to the dentist, she reports back on FB that they need to go back to be sedated to have a cavity filled.

Is this a new normal? The only time my daughter was sedated was when she had her wisdom teeth removed.

It seems a bit much to me. I don't know if this a pediatric dentist or not or if they don't know how to treat kids.

My vet had more concerns about sedating my cat than this dentist seems to have.

It does seem a bit excessive, especially just for a cavity. My daughter has braces and her orthodontist is thinking she may need some teeth pulled. Right now just watching and waiting but it's something I don't want to do. I will if absolutely necessary but sedation is a very serious thing to me. She will have to be in a more acute type of facility being monitored with an EKG, pulse ox, etc. and with medical professionals trained to handle a problem.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

When I worked in health insurance, this came up all of the time. Health Insurance would only cover general anesthesia in a hospital setting preformed by someone other than the dentist and the child had to have a reason other than fear for the insurance to pay.

Many kids were autistic, had Down's syndrome or other medical problems and did need general anesthesia.

i was shocked that children as young as two would need several crowns and fillings and their parents thought this was normal. It used to break my heart to hear and see this. Kids would go to bed with bottles of sugary Kool-Aid and all of their front teeth would rot right in their mouths.

Parents used to send in pictures of their kids teeth for the medical director to review so that insurance would pay...insurance did pay anesthesia for these really bad cases. These pictures would make me physically sick to look at and most were for children who were under the age of six and still had their baby teeth.

I have never seen dental insurance that pays for general anesthesia, you need to use your health insurance for that.

It would be so much easier to just help young children brush their teeth and limit the amounts of sugar they eat and not allow them to go to bed with a bottle or snippy cup with milk, juice or sugary drinks.

And dental sealants are wonderful...no cavities on molars, but they are done on secondary teeth only.

I would never allow a dentist who is doing the dental work sedate me in the dental chair. Oral surgeons usullly have a nurse anesthetist who works with them in their office.

I know this not a new thing, but it is getting to closer to being the norm.

Huge Hannah · ‎11-03-2018

@Kachina624 wrote:
There is always a risk with any sedation. It's probably the easiest way for the dentist to handle a child, although not necessarily the best way. It does seem a bit much.

We don't know the whole story so it's hard to make any kind of judgement.

Huge Hannah · ‎11-03-2018

@Sweetbay magnolia wrote:
Back in the '70s, I was given nitrous oxide (laughing gas) prior to dental procedures. They could have been amputating a leg and I wouldn't have cared.

Wouldn't mind a tank of that around the house now, as a matter of fact.

LOL! me too