How To Prepare Your Child For Sedation Dentistry
The thought of sedation makes a lot of parents a bit anxious. They may not know what to expect if it's just the first time their child will require sedation. As a parent, you may have a lot of questions that you want to be answered when your child goes through pediatric dental sedation. Take a look at some of the main things you need to know.
Why Sedation?
Sedation often becomes necessary when children have severe levels of dental anxiety. Also, if your child is very young and needs to do a lot of restorative work on their teeth, they will often be sedated so that the dentist can complete the work in one visit.
Additionally, children are often sedated during dental procedures if they are unable to sit still during the procedure. The bottom line is that sedation dentistry helps kids to have less stress when dental procedures are performed.
Are There Side Effects?
Your child's unlikely to feel any side effects from sedation. As long as your dentist carefully monitors the amount of sedation your child gets, everything should be fine. Some children may feel a little bit tired after the procedure, but they normally recover very quickly. If you're worried about whether or not there will be any long-term side effects on your child, know that there often won't be any.
How Do You Prepare Your Child?
You can make the whole process a lot easier by preparing your child ahead of time for sedation. You should talk about what will happen during the procedure with your child. Be calm when you discuss it with them, and they will see that there's nothing to be afraid of.
Depending on the type of sedation your child will be getting, you may be required to cut off any solid foods after midnight. Your dentist may also ask you not to give them any juice.
If your child gets very thirsty before the procedure, your dentist may sometimes allow them to sip some water. However, you will normally be advised to cut off this a few hours before the dental procedure. Requirements for various types of sedation dentistry are different. You may not have such stringent restrictions for some types of sedation.
Get Ready
Getting your child ready for sedation dentistry is a lot easier when you are armed with the information you need to make them as comfortable as possible. Always remember that your reactions will become their reactions in most cases. Try to stay as calm as possible, and this will impact your child tremendously.
For more information about pediatric sedation dentistry, contact a local dental office.