If your child needs dental work but is very nervous or anxious about seeing the dentist, the team at Miles of Little Smiles is here to help. Dr. Dikla Chazbani and Dr. Mila Belgrade are pediatric specialists with years of experience treating children under sedation. Whether your little one is fearful, has difficulty sitting still, a strong gag reflex or needs extensive work, White Plains sedation dentistry can help them.
Laughing Gas
Laughing gas sedation is what we recommend for most children with mild to moderate dental anxiety. Laughing gas is given to your child through a comfortable nose mask. They’ll breathe in, and feel the effects of the gas immediately.
Laughing gas will keep your child feeling happy and comfortable. It is also a mild pain reliever. Combined with local anesthetic, this ensures your child won’t feel any discomfort during their procedure. It also wears off after only 5 minutes, which means that you and your little one can get back to your daily life without any interruption following your appointment.
General Anesthesia for Kids
General anesthesia is typically only used for major dental procedures. We employ a dental anesthesia team to administer GA in our office. Your child will be given a blend of sedatives that will guarantee that your child will not feel a thing during treatment. They will be completely unconscious and will not remember their procedure. This means that they will have no painful memories and ensure that they do not develop dental anxiety in the future.
A thorough medical evaluation and consultation will be needed to schedule a sedation appointment. If you have any questions, please call our office and our White Plains dentist will be happy to provide you with more information on sedation dentistry.
The Benefits of Sedation Dentistry
- Sedation dentistry is the best way to relieve fear and anxiety in kids who are afraid of the dentist and need a lot of dental work
- With sedation, your child can feel more comfortable and safe while they get the care they need.
- Sedation dentistry can help your child get through longer dental procedures, preventing squirming and discomfort. It can even help with fear of needles (such as numbing needles) and inhibit the gag reflex.
How long does it take for Sedation to wear off?
This depends on the type of sedation used. Nitrous oxide is the mildest and most commonly used sedative in children’s dentistry. It has a very rapid onset and leaves the body just as quickly.
After your procedure is done, we remove remnants of nitrous oxide by flushing the nasal mask with pure oxygen. Within 5 minutes, the laughing gas effects will be worn off completely.
GA sedation takes much longer to wear off. Your child may feel mostly back to normal within a few hours, but it can take up to 24 hours for the effects to completely wear off. Your child will need to be monitored for the rest of the day and may need help walking up the stairs and getting around.
Will my child feel pain with Sedation?
No, dental sedation will leave your child feeling relaxed and pain-free. Depending on the type of sedation being used, it may need to be combined with a local anesthetic. With general anesthesia, your child will be completely unconscious and not have any perception of what is going on.
It will be like they went to sleep and woke up without having any idea about what happened in between. Nitrous oxide is great for minor routine procedures like dental fillings, while GA sedation is preferable for more intensive procedures. Call our office at (914) 949-6655 to let schedule an appointment
