General anesthesia in children for dental work?

My son is going on 6 years old. After a visit to the pediatric dentist today we discovered that he has several cavities and an abcessed tooth. The dentist also wants to put caps on the rest of his molars to protect them. He said we could do the laughing gas %26amp; a local and split the procedures in to 2 visits but he would prefer we use a general anesthetic and do everything at once. I am so scared to have my little boy put under, I am a very emotional person and this is very hard for me to consider. Does anyone have any input on this subject?

General anesthesia in children for dental work?
It's very common i assure you. We do this alot, especially with 'little guys' whom need alot of Dental treatment.





The reason being, with children this age and younger, most are either scared of the Dentist or they cant sit still long enough for the Dentist to do the procedures. Nitrous (laughing gas) is fine, but the children still move around. Some get bored and shift around, some just get tired of sitting there for long periods of time and of course some just get impatient. It's a long process, and kids in general cant sit still long enough like an adult can.


Your Dentist prefers the General, for many reasons. 1) The child will be put under and he can work without interruptions. 2) It cuts down on visits (again, most children dont enjoy coming to see us multi times, which your child will have to). And 3) He's thinking of your child, and his comfort. Doing it all at once, is less stress on a child. And less trauma, for the child. He wont feel any discomfort, from sitting in a chair with his mouth open for however long he has too, which can be very time consuming with multi procedures like his (your child).





*Trust your Dentist, he wouldnt do you wrong! He's only looking out for your child, the best way he knows how.
Reply:My dentist said she is perfectly secure having her son (I think he's around 4-5) going under Twilight Sleep. You're not fully under, just kind of asleep. You become more relaxed where you may think you're sleeping (Twilight Sleep) but actually don't remember being awake. I had this done and it's great.





The first stage is the laughing gas stage, next is Twilight Sleep, and the deeper stage is general anesthesia.
Reply:it is very understandable...sounds like you are a great mother and care alot about you little boy, general anethetic is novicaine and sweet air(laughing gas) will be good for your son because if will make him not worry or cry or get apprehensive...you dentist is right because if you get it done in one visit you wont have to deal with it twice, neither will your son, easier to forget the experience because it will just be done in one visit..easier for the both of you.your son wont be put under laughing gas just makes him calm and helps him ajust to the situation:)
Reply:I use general anesthesia on lots of kids of this age group for extensive dental work. It will very likely allow the dentist to do a much better job in a shorter time since absolute "cooperation" is guaranteed. The anesthetic does not need to be very deep for straight dental work. The dentists usually prefer that we put the breathing tube in through the nose, to keep it out of their way and to allow them to check the bite following restoration. We give the kids liquid Versed beforehand, put them out with gas, start an IV, and put in the breathing tube. It seems to be a very good technique.