How can I ease my child’s fears about dental care without medication?

When you visit our dental office, we can discuss possible methods to prevent your child from experiencing anxiety while receiving dental care. To help relax a child patient, we can provide a glass of tea or medication as needed. There are also several natural varieties of tea that you can purchase to help relax and calm the child. At times, a cup of tea can be enough to ease your child into a naturally relaxed state. Other patients also find that they benefit from meditation and acupuncture.

How can I prepare for my child’s dentist appointment?

Another easy way to calm your child's fear is to visit our Middletown dental office and meet with Dr. Geri-Lynn Waldman before your child undergoes any actual dental work. Taking the time to tour our office, where the child can sit in the dentist chair and have a conversation, will allow him or her to become familiar with our staff and office environment. After this first visit, the child will feel more comfortable during teeth cleanings or specific procedures from familiar faces. During your consultation, we can also discuss what you and your child can expect from a teeth cleaning or a specific procedure. This will help your child to prepare mentally for how long it will take, what dental tools will be used, what he or she may feel during the process, and what the recovery period will be, if any. At Hudson Valley Pediatric Dentistry, we have found that the more information our patients have about their procedure, the more comfortable and relaxed they feel. This preliminary appointment can help to alleviate the fear of dentists that your child is experiencing.

Middletown Dental Anxiety

Sedation Dentistry Can Reduce Dental Anxiety

In our Middletown dental office, we practice sedation dentistry that can be used to reduce and prevent dental anxiety. Here are some of the questions we are regularly asked about sedation.

Will my child be asleep when sedated?

Typically not. Sleep dentistry is usually reserved for oral surgery and lengthy procedures. Sedation dentistry will help your child relax, but can also make your child drowsy. While some patients do nod off, they are technically not put to sleep.

Can everyone use sedation dentistry?

To determine if your child is healthy enough for sedation, (most people are) we recommend that you schedule an appointment with our dental office. Dr. Geri-Lynn Waldman will meet with you and your child to discuss the type of sedation that would be best suited for the procedure and the level of dental anxiety that he or she is experiencing.

How is sedation dentistry administered?

The most common form of sedation dentistry is having your child take a sedation medication, in the form of a pill, an hour before the procedure begins. One pill will help your child relax and eliminate the fear of dentists during the procedure. Most procedures, such as teeth cleaning or fixing a simple cavity, do not necessarily hurt. With sedation, many patients do not require additional medication. However, if you or your child would prefer pain medication as well, we can administer it after the sedation has taken effect.

Will my child be able to move around like normal?

Yes, with sedation dentistry your child can continue to engage in conversation and respond to commands. However, there may be a delay to your child's response time for a while following the procedure. This is why we recommend that the child is monitored and driven home by a parent following the procedure.

Are there any side effects of sedation dentistry?

Most of the time, the sedation goes away within an hour of the procedure being complete. If your child is more heavily sedated or put to sleep for oral surgery, it can take a couple of hours to feel normal; but this is rare. In our Middletown dental office, we use the least amount of sedation possible to help your child feel completely relaxed and comfortable. By doing this, the sedation is effective without staying in your child's system for too long.

Can children benefit from sedation dentistry?

Yes, typically children need sedation when having a lot of dental work completed. The sedation helps the child hold still long enough for the work to be performed. This is a unique specialty and is not offered at every dentist office.

Are there other ways to make dental work more comfortable?

Yes, laser dentistry is transforming how dental procedures are being completed. When you visit our 10941 dental office, you can be confident we will use the latest technology available to make your child's procedure more comfortable. Lasers allow us to target small spaces without irritating the surrounding tissue by using a laser with fine energy. This reduces discomfort and the recovery time. Lasers are also less invasive than traditional dental tools, leading to less bleeding and swelling than there would be otherwise. They can be used in treating tooth decay, gum disease, and in restorative procedures. If you want a more comfortable experience for your child and to reduce your child's dental anxiety, we highly recommend visiting a laser dentistry office. To learn about the procedures that we perform using lasers, call (845) 363-4177 and schedule an appointment to speak with Dr. Geri-Lynn Waldman. At Hudson Valley Pediatric Dentistry, we have found that when lasers are used, many of our patients no longer need sedation or pain medication. Lasers help eliminates the common factors that create the fear of dentists in children. For example, the noise, heat, and vibration that is traditionally associated with the dental drill is not present when using lasers.

To learn more about sedation dentistry, new dental technology or how to reduce your dental anxiety, call and schedule an appointment with our Middletown dentist office today.