terrified of sedation

[fullmetal]

FIrst a brief history. My youngest son was totally bf. e had one bottle in the hospital after he was orn and refused them after that,even if theyhad breast milk. he was put on liquid albuterol at about 4 mo old untill he was two.by then it was toolate. I almost always whipped his gums after each feeding and continued after hi teeth came in. the first tiny spot i noticed i took him todentist after dentist who all told e he was too young.pluse being on medical didnt help. he was on a natural diet and when he started solids i made most of his baby food myslef to ensure it was natural. when the enamle began peeling off his teeht i practicaly begged dentist to do ometihng,seal them cap them someting. not one would do anything or even refer me to one who would. h was at one time one tylenol with codine for pain when his pediatrician refered us to a hospital 80 miles away. i called and he would not be able toeat or drink not even bm after midniht,which i didnt agree with. the ride down would have been unbearale as e had pain due to the preasure inside the car(he never liked car rides as a baby and toddler) and he wasnt schedualed untill almost noon! comone! hwo many hours without nursing? now he is 5 all but the bottomm front are bad. he has little nubs for his front ones. one the root is showing above where the abses was. so another pediatrician refered us to a surgery center. we went. no food or drink.knocked out. allwork dont at once. we went but he had a fever so they sent him home. after taking to the other mothers there who were all scared for their children being so heavilly sedated. one said they gave her son a shot and he was out,eyes stll wide open. she was afai he ha died,but he hadnt. one little girl was put out an done 10 min. later but still heavilly asleep after an hour. i dont want my son sedated like that. how do i find one who will work wiht him. he is ADHD and wont even let them do exrays. he isnt in any pain now,but says he wants his teeht fixed. how soon will his adult teeth come in,should i wait,should i keep looking for a dentist? my older sons went to the dentist ,who only used novacain. i went to the dentist before kindergarden, only novacain. what is the big trend with puting kids tosleep to work on them?

[SleeplessMommy]

Sedation is used for younger children, when there is a lot or work to be done, or for the convenience of the dentist.

An alternative would be nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which can help a child relax and listen to instructions. Only one or two teeth will be fixed per session with nitrous, and the dentist needs to establish a relationship with the patient. Please find a good local pediatric dentist and get the teeth fixed. A "bribe" or special treat after the dentist may help.

It is important to get the baby teeth fixed now. They fall out only one or two at a time, so decay in the baby teeth can spread to the permanent teeth, and destroy them, if it is not treated.

[rumi]

An alternative would be nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which can help a child relax and listen to instructions. Only one or two teeth will be fixed per session with nitrous, and the dentist needs to establish a relationship with the patient

We found a dentist willing to do this - it took a bit of search but not that much really. I was glad we didn't give up after 2 dentists, because the third one proved to be competent and confident with kids. Nothing fancy, just subtle light humour (and nitrous oxide) kept my nervous dd relaxed. Note that laughing gas alone would not have sufficed. THe gentle, respectful manners of the dentist and hygienist made all the difference.