For some children, or an outpatient facility may be the only available method to deliver necessary oral health care to your child.
General anesthesia is a safe form of dental sedation for children of all ages, from infants to adolescents. However, it’s not for everyone and our Grandville, MI, pediatric dentists reserve this treatment for patients that meet certain criteria.
Learn more about when hospital dentistry may be necessary for your child below.
When Is Hospital Dentistry Recommended?
Our local pediatric dentists will evaluate each patient’s dental prognosis as well as any personal or cognitive factors before recommending hospital dentistry for kids. We evaluate every child individually so we can offer them the best dental care for their situation, whether that’s inside our Grandville, MI, pediatric dental office or in a hospital setting.
Contributing factors to our recommendation include:
- Extensive treatment needs (i.e., multiple procedures)
- Acute situational anxiety
- Uncooperative age-appropriate behavior
- Immature cognitive functioning
- Disabilities
- Special medical conditions
If your child requires general anesthesia but a hospital is too stressful for them, they may be eligible to have a licensed dental anesthesiologist from CarePoint Anesthesia present with them in one of our exam rooms.
Otherwise, our pediatric dentists offer services through the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital for patients who are not qualified to be under anesthesia in our office. There, your child will be under the constant supervision of our dentists, an anesthesiologist, and a medical team trained in pediatric care. Vital signs will be monitored rigorously throughout the procedure to manage the anesthesia safely.
Please ask our dentists if you have any questions about general anesthesia for pediatric dental treatments. We want to make sure both you and your child feel confident about the recommended treatment plan so we can ensure a positive patient experience.
Are There Other Dental Sedation Options for Kids?
With general anesthesia, patients will be fully asleep and have no pain or memory of the procedure. This option, as mentioned above, is reserved for extensive dental work, children with special healthcare needs, or those who do not respond well to other levels of sedation.
However, some patients simply need to feel a bit more relaxed during their procedure, not fully asleep. For this reason, we also offer in-office sedation dentistry for children who just need help staying calm at the dentist. This is typically either pill sedation (medication taken ahead of a procedure) or laughing gas, depending on preference.
Ask our team if you have questions about the difference between milder forms of sedation and pediatric hospital dentistry. We can let you know which one is right for your child.
Schedule an Appointment Today
Our pediatric dentists in Grandville, MI, understand that you may have a fair amount of questions about hospital dentistry if it’s been recommended for your child. We’re here to answer every single one and provide you with the clarity you need before any procedure is pursued. Call Grandville Pediatric Dentistry at (616) 531-3430, or contact us online to request an appointment.