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.