Sleep Dentistry or Deep Sedation
June 24th, 2009 by Mark Mutschler
Some children are unable to hold still for dental care even with conscious sedation. For children with many cavities that will take a long time to fill or children too young to understand the need to sit still, we are able to have them go to sleep for their dental fillings.
Today I had a four year old boy from Molalla and a three year old girl from Gladstone needing deep sedation. Deep sedation is not quite general anesthesia like for medical operations but keeps patients just barely asleep.
There are options to treat while awake or to get sleep dentistry in a hospital or in our office.
Sleep Dentistry Advantages:
- Able to complete all treatment at one time
- Comfortable during treatment
Sleep Dentistry Disadvantages:
- More expensive than without
- Some drug risk
In-office Sleep Dentistry Advantages:
- No uncomfortable breathing tube is used.
- Recovery time is much faster with the drugs we use.
- Kids leave for home within about 30 minutes.
Hospitalization Advantages:
- Sick children have emergency doctors close by.
Hospitalization Disadvantages:
- Much more expensive than in-office care.
- More uncomfortable afterwards due to sore throat and nausea.
- Takes much longer to check in, do work, recover, and check out.
I use an anesthesiologist in my office to give the kids a quick shot in the arm that within a minute has them not paying attention to their surroundings. He will then start an IV and keep them asleep while we finish their dental care.
The kids wake up within minutes and go home after about half an hour.
This has become my preferred treatment method for children that need to go to sleep for their dental care.
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