APPROACH

We typically book treatment in one of four 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, or
3. in the dental chair under intravenous moderate sedation and local anesthesia (reserved for teenagers and adults), or
4. 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

For 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. Individuals with cognitive or physical disabilities may also struggle depending on their situation.

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 a 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.