Sedating kids

Inadequate pain control for initial procedures in young children may diminish the effect of adequate analgesia in subsequent procedures.2 Sedative medications will then have to overcome increased anxiety from previous appointments.Levels of Sedation For both adults and children, there is a continuum of levels of sedation.In medicine, sedation is also used in a wide variety of disciplines, from cardiology to dermatology, in which practitioners use enteral (oral) and parenteral (intravenous) sedation.

Therefore, appropriate patient evaluation and selection contribute to sedation success in children.1 It is important to manage a child’s pain and anxiety early in their treatment.Raj Vij, administrative director of pediatric dentistry at Akron Children’s Hospital.Around the country in recent years, troubling cases have come to light where children were harmed or died after being sedated for dental procedures. Vij emphasized that sedation is very safe, provided safety and monitoring guidelines are followed.Sedation is used to increase the cooperation of children during treatment.When behaviour management techniques such as tell-show-do, voice control, non-verbal communication, positive reinforcement, distraction and parental presence are insufficient for dental treatment, sedation or general anesthesia may become necessary.1 Conscious sedation or minimal sedation is part of various techniques that are used by dentists, especially pediatric dentists, alongside behaviour management techniques.