We realize your child may have some apprehension about visiting us and we want to make his or her visit as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Sedation Dentistry utilizes several techniques to help create more relaxed dental visits. Each child and each situation is unique when it comes to pain control. Dr. Kristi would be pleased to discuss the factors that she considers when deciding which path to use for your child.

If your child’s procedure requires sedation, we administer Nitrous Oxide, commonly referred to as “laughing gas”. A mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen is breathed in through a small, soft rubber mask covering the nose. Unlike other methods, the depth of sedation can be controlled, allowing the doctor administering the gas to increase or decrease sedation, and sedation can be stopped by switched off the gas as soon as it is no longer needed. Nitrous oxide is one of the safest sedation techniques available. A mechanism in the delivery system prevents overdose and nitrous oxide is always mixed with oxygen during delivery. Three to five minutes after the gas is switched off, it is eliminated from your child’s body.

To prevent pain during certain procedures such as filling cavities, preparing teeth for crowns, and administering root canals, Dr. Kristi may use a local anesthetic. This is applied in a specific (local) area of your mouth by injecting into tissues adjacent to nerves that transmit pain, numbing the area. Before this injection, Dr. Kristi rubs a topical anesthetic onto the injection site to numb the surface.

If you have any questions about Sedation Dentistry or how it is used in our office, contact Dr. Kristi at (203) 787-1176.