My son is almost 22 months old, and his teeth have been decaying ever since his first birthday. I just took him to the dentist this morning because one of the teeth (which pretty much isn't a tooth, because it has decayed into the gums) was causing him a little pain. The nerve hasn't showed through yet.. Thank goodness, but it's looking like it might pretty soon. We got talking about options to fix the teeth. (Now that he is a bit older and we never wanted to do general anesthetic) And we want to fix them before this nerve shows through, so the tooth won't have to be pulled.
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The dentist that I've been seeing says he will fix the teeth one at a time (5 in total)Â if he has to, depending on how long he will sit in the chair at each appt using only laughing gas. If the nerve in this tooth shows through in the meantime, we will be referred to a pediatric dentist for the work. The dentist office we would be refferred to is actually the office that we went to a long time ago, that suggested we do GA to fix the teeth earlier. Which we declined. I called that office today to see if they would do the work with in office sedation, or chloral hydrate instead of GA. And they said they would have to examine the teeth and see how much work needs to be done, and how the child acts before they decide. I guess I just want to know if anyone else has used conscious sedation in a young toddler. We've said no to GA this whole time, and if we end up having to do it anyways, I'll feel horrible that we didn't just do it sooner to save my son the hassle of the pain and not really being able to bite with his front teeth.
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I just hate that my son has to go through this at all. No child should have to be put under or sedated when they don't even really understand what's going on. It's just so sad! :(
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Any experience with either GA or in office sedation? Thanks Mama's.
