Kids Dental Sedation
Our goal at Brink & White Pediatric Dental Associates is to relieve your child’s anxiety and fear. Your child deserves an office experience that builds confidence and joy for both your child and YOU!
We believe oral conscious sedation (OCS) is a great tool to help achieve that goal, and our doctors are specially trained to offer this treatment option.
All About Kids Dental Sedation
Most children can receive invasive dental care requiring local anesthetic with the help of nitrous oxide (laughing gas). However, some children need more help to make them feel at ease during treatment.
This can be due to the age of the child, substantial fear or apprehension, or extensive treatment needs. At Brink & White, we use a helpful approach to deal with these kinds of situations through oral conscious sedation (OCS).
This method involves begins with your child drinking a special medicine we call “Kool-Aid” once they arrive at our office for their appointment.
This “Kool-Aid” is typically a mixture of two different medications. One is an antihistamine (similar to Benadryl) and is used in most mixtures. The other medication will either be Valium, Versed (similar to Valium but more common with younger children), or Demerol.
These medications and their actions can be further explained by your doctor if needed. Any time that a medication is taken orally, it takes time for the medication to take effect. Our staff will wait the appropriate amount of time before bringing your child back to begin the treatment phase of your visit.
With most visits, we’ll use nitrous oxide and oxygen to help put your child at ease. This can help to temporarily add to the sedative effect. The goal of OCS is NOT to render your child unconscious or put them “to sleep”.
Many times the patient is awake, actively participating in the appointment and watching the movie on the screen above their chair. In some instances, the patient is drowsy enough and so comfortable that they may close their eyes or even dose off for a short period of time.
This is normal and most of the time the patient readily responds to instructions given to them without even opening their eyes. During the visit, your doctors constantly monitor the heart rate and oxygenation of patients to assure their safety.
We’re Trained in Dental Sedation for Kids
Your doctors at Brink & White have been trained extensively in OCS through their residency programs. All sedation appointments follow the guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
Our dentists are licensed by the State of Tennessee to administer conscious sedation and receive continuing education on the subject of conscious sedation. Please discuss any questions or concerns you may have about OCS with our staff and doctors.
FAQs About Dental Sedation for Kids
Talk to Us
We want you to feel comfortable when you allow us to care for your child, and we take this responsibility seriously.
If you have any other questions, please contact our office at 901-382-0280 and one of our doctors will be happy to talk to you about your concerns.