We need to take our baby girl to a dentist. She’s a year and a half and has developed some serious cavities in her front teeth, and I’m a bit nervous about taking her to see a dentist.
AFAIK, they put kids that young totally under in order to work on their teeth, and I’m the kind of first-time dad who freaks upon hearing horror stories about very young kids and bad outcomes from inexpertly applied anaesthesia . . . anything you tell me about your own experiences? Reassurances or warnings?
My son had to be anesthetized three times before he was three for a few minor operations (ear tubes and such). He was fine. What they did at our hospital was bring the baby to a recovery room with beds and rocking chairs so you can be there to soothe them when they wake up. We weren’t allowed to leave until they observed that he was able to drink a small cup of juice or water or eat some crackers or jello. He was always completely normal a few hours later.
We also always asked to be with him as he was put under, so he wouldn’t be alone with strangers and a lot of scary equipment
My 5 yo old son needed a root canal, and IIRC they used laughing gas. They had a choice of flavors too. It’s not completely under, but just enough to keep them calm and still. He was able to realize that he needed to use the bathroom towards the end, able to understand to wait 2 minutes till they finished, and able to hold it that long. He’s normally a pretty wired kid by the way.