dental sedation for children

[Fran]

Hi, my 9 year old daughter had a bad experience with a dentist when she was younger and now she refuses to see a dentist again, despite having toothache. She ‘s very frightened of dentists. What can I do to help her? Is it posible for her to have dental treatment under iv sedation?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post. IV sedation is not used on children as I think the IV sedation drugs are not licensed for use on children. However anxious children can can inhalation sedation as well as local anaesthetic and this combination works well to reduce anxiety and prevent pain during dental treatment. We exclusively use IV sedation at our clinic but inhalation sedation is provided by children's dental departments of many local hospitals.