How Are We Going To Do This?

Sedation

When parents are presented with treatment options at our clinic, one of the final things that we discuss is how we’re going to do dental treatment. 

Approach

We typically book treatment in one of three ways:

  1. in the dental chair with local anesthesia (“freezing”), or
  2. in the dental chair under nitrous oxide sedation (laughing gas) and local anesthesia combined, or
  3. under general anesthesia where your child is put to sleep by a board certified medical anesthesiologist. Dr. Perusini will still be the dentist providing the dental treatment.

Factors to Consider

It is important to be realistic when planning how things are going to proceed. Dr. Perusini emphasizes the following points to help guide the discussion, and to ensure the best outcome:

Age: in younger children, dental treatment with freezing alone can be quite traumatic. Fortunately, children develop coping skills with age, which can positively impact treatment outcomes. 

Development: some individuals might find treatment in the chair challenging due to a lack of psychological or emotional maturity and/or mental, physical or medical disability. 

Amount of Treatment: exactly how many teeth need to be fixed? In the office, Dr. Perusini will typically do one corner of the mouth per appointment to minimize the length of the visit (children often do better with short and easy). Also, Dr. Perusini wants to ensure that he is using a good volume of local anesthetic to maximize comfort in one corner without over-medicating or minimizing the anesthetic’s effectiveness in multiple corners.

Procedure: restorative dentistry and minor oral surgery often require that a child be perfectly still during the procedure. This can sometimes be challenging for a child depending on their age, anxiety or emotional development. 

Infection: depending on the severity of a dental infection, local anesthesia alone may not be sufficient to guarantee the child’s comfort during the procedure. 

Dr. Perusini and the staff at Avenue Pediatric Dentistry recognize that each child is unique, and what works for one may be inappropriate for another. Prior to scheduling any treatment, Dr. Perusini will spend time with each family to determine the best course of action. 

Schedule an appointment with us today for a beautiful, healthy smile.

Come Find Us

Conveniently located in the heart of Edmonton, Avenue Pediatric Dentistry proudly delivers all aspects of dental care to infants, children and teenagers, as well as those of all ages with special needs.

Contact

Tel: 780-428-7761
Fax: 780-428-1032
Email: [email protected]

HOURS

Monday 7:30a.m.–3:30p.m.
Tuesday 7:30a.m.–3:30p.m.
Wednesday 7:30a.m.–3:30p.m.
Thursday 7:30a.m.–3:30p.m.
Friday 7:30a.m.–2:30p.m.