Dental Procedures Appropriate for Autistic Children

WhitenTeeth — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:02:41 +0000

As the prevalence of autism is obviously on the rise, the medical field, particularly psychiatry and pediatrics keep the movement on autism running with regard to any awareness, caregiving tips, nutrition, and cognitive skills to easily guide parents of autistic children in the parenthood line. However, in line with the dental hygiene of these individuals could be considered another big challenge for the parents as well. Autistic children are distinguished of having communication disorders, short attention span, and inability to socialize with people. Dental sessions need proper communication in conveying comfort, signals, refusals, and even pain.

There are various risks that a parent should be thinking of first since an autistic child has certain impairments. Like how would the dentist know if the anesthesia being used on the child is already adequate and would not inflict pain anymore? Are there any special kinds of dentists who are equipped in conducting dental practices with mentally-challenged people such as autistic children? Parents usually dwell on worrying thoughts on how a dental activity will be conducted on their special child.

Sedation and sleep dentistry now allow patients to experience levels of reduced anxiety during dental sessions, making autistic children’s parents worry-free on any dental session there is. Several researches were conducted and resulted to modiifed techniques conducted in sleep dentistry to better address the difficulty and possible risks of treating physically and mentally-challenged patients.

Sleep dentistry offers dental solutions to people with special needs and other medical conditions. It is also a proven solution to those with communication disorders as well like autistic children. This practice is conducted where the patient is placed in complete slumber state without him having any awareness of what is happening in his surroundings. Thus, the patient will feel no pain at all and will have no recall of the dental procedure.

In choosing the right sleep dentist for your autistic child, it is better to be guided with the significant details about the procedure as it will lead you to finding the equipped and experienced sleep dentist that you need. Always take note that the basic determinants of the treatment plan is the patient’s needs and goals. Gathering reference and pertinent information on appropriate dental solutions is of the important tasks of a parent or guardian of a special child who needs dental accommodation.

Our team of Ft. Lauderdale dentists offer helpful details addressing special dental needs for special people at sleepdentists.com.

Dental Procedures Appropriate for Autistic Children is a post from: Help Whiten My Teeth!

Sedation Dentistry: Providing Solutions For Anxious Patients

WhitenTeeth — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:31:15 +0000

Getting anxious during a dental visit may seem silly to some. But there are people whose anxiety levels increase tremendously at the thought of dental appointments, let alone an upcoming dental procedure. A traumatic dental experience in the past or a low tolerance for pain could have caused such reactions. Further, hard to restrain children who are obviously anxious about going through the dental treatment are unable to stay put in the dental chair for a long period. There is a solution to reduce the anxiety and calm the patient during dental visits and treatments: sedation and sleep dentistry.

Administering these dental techniques depends on the patient’s needs and the type of procedure he’ll go through. Local anesthetics are typically used to numb the area so that you won’t feel any pain or discomfort during the treatment. There are two kinds of anesthetics utilized in dentistry today: topical and injectable. Topical anesthetics are applied on the gum using a swab or an adhesive patch. Usually, this lessens the pricking sensation the patients experience when an injectable anesthesia is used. Injectable anethesia is introduced to prevent pain and discomfort in the area where the treatment will take place. It blocks the nerve endings and temporarily numb the tissues around the mouth. Injectables are administered during root canals, tooth extraction and other tooth restoration procedures.

While administering anesthetics reduce pain and discomfort, some patients still experience anxiety which local and injectable anesthetics don’t address. In such cases, the dentist will use anti-anxiety medication or sedatives to provide relief for anxious patients. Conscious sedation can be administered through pills, gas or intravenous injection. The most commonly used sedative agents are nitrous oxide and intraveous sedation.

Nitrous oxide or commonly known as laughing gas or happy gas is administered by mixing it with oxygen and inhaled through a breathing mask. The sedative properties wears off once the mask is taken off. Intravenous sedation is generally administered in the vein on the arm. After a few minutes, the patient will be put in a relaxed state; breathing on his own and is able to respond to verbal commands.

As a patient, you need to tell your dentist about your anxiety during dental treatments. There are options available to you such as conscious sedation that can help alleviate the discomfort and anxiety levels during dental treatment and procedure.

Leff, Weiss and Walde DDS are a team of Ft Lauderdale dentists specializing in sedation dentistry. For more information about eliminating anxiety and discomfort during dental treatment, visit sleepdentists.com.

Sedation Dentistry: Providing Solutions For Anxious Patients is a post from: Help Whiten My Teeth!

Help Whiten My Teeth! » Ft Lauderdale dentists

Dental Procedures Appropriate for Autistic Children

Sedation Dentistry: Providing Solutions For Anxious Patients