[4evermom]

Seems to me it just takes a minute to pop out a tooth, after the novacaine kicks in (basing this on having my wisdom teeth out). My ds would be screaming because he was confined as much as anything else. He'd likely be more traumatized from being held down than anything else. I RAN from the dentist that was going to do ds' 10 fillings in a papoose.

I found a good pediatric dentist who tried doing them one section of his mouth at a time with an oral sedative. Now fillings take a lot longer than a simple extraction. We did end up doing the work under GA because the oral sedative made ds cranky and he was only 3. The oral sedative basically had the effect of making ds feel drunk, plus it tasted extremely bitter. I actually think he would probably have done better without it.

If the dentist just gets in your dd's mouth long enough to give her novocaine and if your dd lets her back in after feeling that "pinch", it should just be a minute or two to get the tooth out. The risk is that your dd won't open her mouth again after the novacaine. Sounds like your dentist is planning on keeping her papoosed the entire time it takes for the novacaine to take effect, not just the couple minutes when she actually has to do something to her. Neither ds nor I have had "laughing" gas but if that makes her relaxed, it could be a good option.

Ds' dentist's office has video games in the waiting room and tvs in the exam rooms which help keep the kids distracted. That can help a lot, too. The dentist also had a jocular manner and joked with ds and put him at ease.