My 19 month-old daughter needs dental work done. She has some developing
cavities. The dentist wants to make some fillings and says it should only take
10-20 minutes.

He has given 2 options: 1. sedation with Versed (generic name - midazolam
http://www.fpnotebook.com/PSY149.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...di/202372.html), or 2. cry it out
for 10-20 minutes. From what info I have found on midazolam, it seems to be
relatively safe and widely used for children. The greatest risk seems to be
possible overdose, which can cause depressed (or arrested) breathing and heart
rate, but, it appears that the drug wears off quickly, and it can be countered
with assisted breathing. The info sheet that the dentist gave me said that
children may have diverse reactions after the drug begins to wear off, either
silliness/laughter or crankiness. Disorientation, dizziness are other
post-procedure side-effects.

I'm still somewhat undecided on which way to go. I'm leaning toward drug-less
cry-it-out. I found some information that showed that children might actually
have a worse time in post-surgery recovery, behaviorally, if they *don't* receive
sedation (http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/c...e.op.seds.html). But,
full-blown surgery with general anesthesia seems to be quite different from taking
20 minutes to apply dental fillings.

Can anyone give any personal experiences regarding their young children and
midazolam (or any other sedative) or just allowing them to cry-it-out with regard
to dental procedures? How were your pre- and post-procedure experiences?

I do plan on asking the dentist for more information, regarding dosage and
preparedness for adverse reactions. Are there any other questions that you might
suggest?

Thanks a bunch.
--
Jeannie
E-mail: jeannie at talisweb dot see oh em
Web: http://www.moonflour.com