Sedation Dentistry in Florham Park

Nitrous Oxide

Children who are very young, with a high level of anxiety that interferes with the cooperation necessary for Dr. Lam and his staff to provide dental care safely and effectively, may require some level of sedation. Sedation is also helpful for special needs children and children with varying degrees of attention deficit.

There are many safe and effective drugs available today that can help relax the child and promote a good environment for optimal and safe dental treatment.

Conscious sedation is an option for some children who are mildly apprehensive. This highly effective method can be administered by an inhalation method using nitrous oxide (N20:02).

Nitrous oxide is a safe inhalation agent that takes effect within 1-2 minutes. There are virtually no serious side effects to the use of nitrous oxide, and at the end of the treatment, the effects of nitrous oxide disappear within minutes.

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Sedation dentistry is most helpful for:

• Children who require major treatment.
• A very anxious child.
• Children that have had traumatic dental experiences (sound and smell aversion).
• Children with a strong gag reflex.
• Children who are medically compromised or have special needs.

General Anesthesia

Occasionally, very young children have not fully developed their ability to cope with new and strange environments. If these anxious children require major treatment, it may be necessary to undergo dental care in a hospital setting while the child is under general anesthesia.

While in the hospital, children are cared for by highly skilled hospital staff including a dedicated Anesthesiologist who will bring each child in and out of general anesthesia. Because the child patient is in such a controlled setting, dental treatment which may otherwise have taken several visits can often be performed all in one visit.

With the child under general anesthesia, this also avoids the possibility of multiple stressful visits for the child. Dr. Lam has staff privileges at a number of local hospitals where this type of treatment can be provided for your child safely and conveniently.