Sedation and Sleep Dentistry

Maintaining the oral health of a child diagnosed with autism is not much different from maintaining the oral health of other children; However, children with autism often have difficulty communicating, so your child’s cooperation when visiting the dentist can be a difficult challenge. For parents of children with autism, a visit to the paediatric dentist is more than a child who opens their mouth and receives a reward afterwards. If working with your child is too difficult, and the dental procedure is urgent enough, the dentist may have no choice but to use a dental sedative to provide the necessary dental treatment.

What is dental sedation? Is it necessary? Is it safe?

Sedation uses medications called “sedatives” to create a state of relaxation. It is usually done to facilitate a medical, or in this case, dental procedure. There are different levels of sedation that can be used in paediatric patients in need of comprehensive dental care.

It results in minimal depression of consciousness. It preserves the patient’s ability to maintain the airway independently and continuously open. The patient can respond to physical stimulation or verbal commands with conscious sedation. Nitrous oxide is a medical gas commonly called happy gas or Laughing gas. The use of laughing gas in paediatric dentistry is a common way to provide compassionate and appropriate dental care to young children. Happy gas can soothe anxious children when they undergo treatment. Administering happy gas is one way to reduce a child’s pain and anxiety during dental treatment. Happy gas is the most preferred way of easing anxiety in dentistry of sedation in paediatric patients. The gas is administered through a small nosepiece, and your child is awake. The nosepiece fits over the child’s nose, and all they do is breathe normally through your nose. There is no hangover effect, and the gas is eliminated from the body within 3 to 5 minutes after the gas supply is interrupted. Children often recover quickly from the effects of the gas after completing their dental treatment. Happy gas sedation is very safe. It is non-addictive, mild, easy to administer, and quickly cleared from the body. Your child remains fully conscious throughout the treatment and retains natural reflexes when breathing in the happy gas. Professional use of happy gas for paediatric dental treatments is safe with no long-term effects from occasional use. The Australasian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry recognizes the use of happy gas inhalation as a safe and effective technique to reduce anxiety, induce analgesia, and improve effective patient-healthcare provider communication. Nausea and vomiting, which only occurs in 0.5% of patients, are the most common side effects, according to the AAPD. During the treatment, your child’s breathing rate, laughing gas level and ability to react will be monitored by the dental team.

Deep sedation is a type of sedation in which the patient is not easily awake and may be accompanied by a partial loss of protective reflexes, including the ability to maintain the airway or respond appropriately to physical stimulation or stimulation. Most people immediately associate sedation with general anaesthesia. General anaesthesia is an induced state of unconsciousness. The patient cannot react to any physical or verbal stimulation, and the dentist ensures that the airways are maintained. From a medical point of view, general anesthesia is an induced state of unconsciousness. The patient sleeps and cannot respond to touch or voice in practice. It is most often recommended for children with extensive dental needs who cannot tolerate the treatment needed to restore their mouth. For example, suppose a young child had severe tooth decay in early childhood and required multiple root canals and crowns. In that case, dental treatment under GA (general anesthesia) is the safest, most convenient way to complete treatment. For a child with a mental or physical disability, the hospital environment offers the best and safest approach to treatment. The patient falls asleep throughout the procedure and then wakes up in a recovery room; However, this is usually the last possible option for a paediatric dentist. Experienced Paediatric dentists in Brisbane start with lower sedation if that is an option. Dentists try to use the safest and most practical anaesthesia whenever possible. Before making a recommendation, dentists consider the child’s age, cognitive level, coping and communication skills, physical health, parents’ attitude towards anaesthesia, and the procedure’s urgency. Sedation is a recognised standard of care in dentistry. Pediatric Dentists are also trained in autism and certified in providing sedation as part of their professional training. Dentists specialising in treating paediatric patients are also well equipped to treat children with an autism spectrum disorder.