Need suggestions.. nitrous oxide versus anesthesia

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Hi,

Our son, "D" who has Aspergers and is 7 years old, needs : 5 stainless steel crowns, 1 filling, and 1 pulpotimy (where they have to remove the nerve under the tooth).

Our dentist suggested we break this into 3 visits. They would use nitrous oxide and if "D" doesn't do well during the 1st visit, they would then refer him to a pediatric orthodontist who would use general anesthesia.

I need advice and experiences from you so that I can make the right decision.
"D" has built a lot of trust in his dental hygeinist, Tina, and I don't want to ruin that with a horibble experience.

I'm personnaly leaning towards getting the whole thing done at one time through a pediatric orthodontist and general anesthesia.

HELP ! !! !
Thanks,
Laura

Either should be fine as long as he is put completely to sleep. It is so much less stressful. Though, I'd vote for getting it all done at once.

I had to have major dental work like that when I was little. I fell and severely damaged my front teeth. They tried doing a root canal to save them but all it did was make it worse.
I remember when they pulled them out - I fell asleep to some nice bubblegum scented gas, and woke up in a big comfy chair with a really cool necklace on that had my little teeth in it! I thought it was really neat. =)

andriarose,

When you fell asleep to the bubble gum scented gas, do you remember if you felt the dentist numbing your gums or giving a shot into your gums to numb them?

Did you remember anything at all or feel any tugging or pricking? Did you hear the sound of the dentist's tools like the drill?

Did you only get nitrous oxide or general anesthesia?

Thanks,
Laura

oh boy. many dentists don't want to schedule all of those sorts of procedures for one visit- they think it adds to the general fear of dentists. this is partly why my aspie hubby won't go to the dentist........but i digress.......i say schedule D for the least invasive of the procedures with the regular dentist. make certain that D understands that this is not a regular dentist visit & make sure D understands what's going to happen.

I'm not sure how to handle telling him about the type of visit he has to take at the dentist.

I just got back from the Pediatric Opthamologist (eye doctor), and he barely made it through them putting eye drops in his eyes to dilate them. He was kicking and crying during that.

I'm so nervous. How do I present the idea of getting cavities filled, etc. to him if he can hardly handle eye drops?

Laura

I HATE getting those eye drops, or anything else in my eyes. The dentist I can handle. They have to use that "hold your mouth open" thing on me though, because I bite.

He is only SEVEN!?!?!? WHY does he have to have so much dental work done? On the crowns, for example, they are either baby teeth, or BRAND NEW adult teeth.

Either he has MAJOR problems, or you should get a second opinion.

woah....i must've missed that..........7?????????????? get another opinion

I third the second opinion comment, but must extol my love for "twilight sedation dentistry". The IV kind. Seriously, they put me under and did about 12 years of dental work in about 3 hours.

Sounds like serious stuff. I'm not sure if I'd trust this to nitrous oxide. The effects are pretty unpredictable. I had it used once for a root canal and ran screaming because it actually sensitized me rather than desensitized me. The assistant had to come find me outside, practicing deep breathing. It's good for cleaning. I need it for professional cleaning.

Obviously I wouldn't trust anyone that doesn't regularly do oral surgery on children to put him under...

Keep sending me your thoughts, advice and experience with this....it is very helpful.

I am leaning towards sedation dentistry of the anesthetic (asleep) kind.
I'm not sure why my son has so many cavities at his age, except my husband has always been very much against flouride toothpastes...
Also, the dentist said it's probably because his teeth are so tight together. The cavities were found to be inbetween the teeth.'

I'm calling our dentist to get a referal for pediatric orthodontistry tomorrow.

Laura

We're facing similar issues w/ our 8 yr old Aspie. I vote for General Anesthesia. We tried the gas, he wouldn't have it. He didn't even want the numbing gel in his gums. So we tried the papoose board (with his consent) and he didn't like that, either. So we voted for general. We're still trying to come up with the money for it, but that's what we're going to do.

He did not like the smell of the gas or anything.

Also, don't bother w/ a 2nd opinion -- if his teeth are that bad, you can SEE it. As his mother, you know how bad his teeth are. I say this because we're in the same situation and I understand. You don't consider gas or GA for no reason. You know?

_________________
~ Carrie
It's just me and I'll find a way to make it (Blue October/It's Just Me)

I've always had general anesthesia. Seem to recall having the choice before eye surgery in the 80s. The doc back then said that a lot of kids didn't like the smell of the gas. I did regain conciousness while they were wheeling me from the OR to recovery.

I do wake up pissed off, though.

We went through this last year with our son--he was 5 at the time and needed a pulpotomy and a crown on his back tooth. He was extremely nervous at the dentist's office; he didn't even want to open his mouth so the dentist could count his teeth. We knew that he would never get through this procedure with novocaine only, so the dentist offered us the choice of conscious sedation (Demerol and Vistaril combined with nitrous oxide) or general anesthesia in a hospital-type setting. The anesthesia would have cost around $7000, so we opted for the sedation.

We were so nervous, but our son did so well with the "twilight sleep". He sat perfectly still throughout the whole procedure. We were scared that the sedation wouldn't be enough to relax him, but it was. Much less expensive too.

Just an update....
We decided to make an appointment with an actual Pediatric Orthodontist. The appointment is Sept 10th.... then, they will give us an estimate as to what it will cost, etc etc.

I'll let you know how he handles it....for all the parents out there who are curious.

Thanks,
Laura