When is IV Sedation Necessary?

While IV sedation does make it easier to perform dental work on children, it comes with a number of risks. That is why Sunshine Smiles recommends the use of IV sedation for specific situations. Some examples of situations when IV sedation may be recommended include:

• Extensive dental work needs to be performed on multiple teeth. Instead of scheduling multiple appointments, a pediatric dentist may be able to use IV sedation to calm your child enough that they can do the dental work in one visit.
• Tooth extractions. Tooth extractions are a delicate procedure that needs to be performed with care. A wiggle or nervous child may cause a dentist to have difficulty safely extracting the tooth.
• Extremely anxious or apprehensive child is reluctant to get any dental work done.

These are just some examples of when IV sedation may be recommended. Typically, a pediatric dentist will assess each case individually to determine if IV sedation is necessary.

Some of the things that a pediatric dentist considers include:

• Previous health history of the child
• Child’s personality
• Ability for the child to sit for prolonged periods of time
• Type of procedure being performed
• Number of procedures being performed
• Age of the child

Sunshine Smiles believes in only using IV sedation when absolutely necessary. If, after an appointment with our pediatric dentists, it is determined your child needs IV sedation, we will schedule an appointment with our doctor who provides in-office IV sedation. Call our office today to schedule an appointment and feel free to ask any questions about IV Sedation.