Dentist uses Nitrous Oxide?

My personal dentist numbs the area where the cavity is going to be filled
with a shot of some sort. No gas at all. Both of my kids have cavities, so I
will see what their dentist uses for cavities, if anything.

My oldest daughter had to have a dental procedure and she was put under
general anesthesia, but that involved going to the hospital, putting in an
IV and having the anesthesiologist on board and nurses.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

Wendy Marsden wrote in message
...
My four year old finally, FINALLY got his dentist visit today, four months
after an x-ray showed a startling five cavities. Our dentist promptly
referred us to a pediatric dentist, saying she wasn't set up to do that
much work on a small kid. The pediatric dentist fit us in for an initial
exam and a teeth cleaning, but couldn't get us an appointment to treat him
until today.

Things started out fine, everyone was cheerful and no one was scared or
anxious. He got in the chair and was laughing and fine. But five minutes
into the nitrous oxide he suddenly started whimpering and curling up and
got clingy and weepy and scared. I wasn't able to figure out what was
causing the anxiety - I really think it was a reaction to the nitrous
oxide. The dentist just thought I had a wimpy boy that I babied - which
wouldn't be a crime if I did, but that doesn't happen to be the case.

The damn dentist threw us out. So much for pediatric dentists knowing
how to work with kids! He offered no solution beyond we'll try again on
Monday. Meanwhile, this dentist is a 45 minute drive from my home, he
isn't a preferred provider in my insurance plan and he thinks I've caused
my son's mouth problems through neglect (which just isn't true.)

The pediatric dentist was talking about scheduling an OR for sometime in
the winter (months and months from now) to do all four fillings at
once. I'm disinclined to put my kid through general anasthesia
again. (Long story, but probably related to why he has such weirdly
horrible teeth: he had a traumatic illness and hospitalization 15 months
ago.)

I'm thinking of finding a dentist that does NOT use nitrous oxide but who
will prescribe a valium before the visit. What do you think?

-- Wendy

Wendy Marsden wrote:

Things started out fine, everyone was cheerful and no one was scared or
anxious. He got in the chair and was laughing and fine. But five minutes
into the nitrous oxide he suddenly started whimpering and curling up and
got clingy and weepy and scared.

It's not 100% side effect free. See anything below that could
reduce your kid to a trembling, whimpering, clingy creatu

More common
Shivering or trembling
Less common
Blurred or double vision or other vision problems; dizziness,
lightheadedness, or feeling faint; drowsiness; headache; mood or
mental changes; nausea (mild) or vomiting; nightmares or unusual
dreams.

It's most often used WITH novocaine, not as the only
anaesthectic.

The damn dentist threw us out. So much for pediatric dentists knowing
how to work with kids!

I wuuld file a formla writte complaint with whoever governs these
people. If they don't recognize the symptoms of an adverse
reaciton, and didn't warn the kid he's "feel floaty, they deserve
to be reprimanded.

He offered no solution beyond we'll try again on
Monday. Meanwhile, this dentist is a 45 minute drive from my home, he
isn't a preferred provider in my insurance plan and he thinks I've caused
my son's mouth problems through neglect (which just isn't true.)

The pediatric dentist was talking about scheduling an OR for sometime in
the winter (months and months from now) to do all four fillings at
once. I'm disinclined to put my kid through general anasthesia
again.


I'm thinking of finding a dentist that does NOT use nitrous oxide but who
will prescribe a valium before the visit. What do you think?

Valium before, and a good calm manner, and liberal quantities of
novocaine should do it.


Tsu Dho Nimh

--
When businesses invoke the "protection of consumers," it's a lot like
politicians invoking morality and children - grab your wallet and/or
your kid and run for your life.

Wendy Marsden wrote in message ...
In misc.kids Cathy Weeks wrote:

PLEASE don't make little ones do it without some sort of anesthesia
(doesn't have to be nitrous - there are alternatives)

What are the alternatives? When he had a tooth extracted the oral surgeon
asked us to give him 4 mg of valium an hour or so before the procedure.
My husband took him to the procedure and reported no problems. I know
they used nitrous oxide during the procedure, too, and I assume they
used some sort of novicaine, but I don't really know.

Well, valium is one option. Are you sure the reaction was to the
nitrous though? The dentist seems like a jerk, and perhaps your son
got frightened. If your son has been fine with nitrous in the past,
then it might be that your kid picked up on other things, and got
scared. It happens, even after going in the past.

There are other drugs that can be given to him, and many novicaine
injections can be done painlessly if the dentist is skillful (not all
of them - injections to the roof of the mouth pretty much always
hurt). I'm not a dentist, but my dad is. I would suggest meeting
with another pediatric dentist and asking some questions.

I knew instantly that our pediatric dentist was wonderful, and he is-
you'll know if you like the new one pretty quickly

He clearly thought that I
had freaked the kid out about dentistry before we got there. (Note that
this is Sammy's 8th dentist visit and he hasn't freaked out before.)

Kids can freak out at any time. He could have picked up on your
tension, or he could have taken a dislike to the dentist for whatever
reason. (And it sounds reasonable if you ask me).

me. I'm sick to death of the condescending way this ped dentist keeps
pooh-poohing my concerns, like, "could his sudden onslaught of bad teeth
be from a medical condition?" to which the dentist said, "no, it's because
you weren't flossing his teeth."

This guy isn't the dentist for you. Really. Any healthcare provider
should provide basic courtesy and caring.

My other two kids are ages 10 and 12 and have one cavity between
them. It's just too weird that all my toddler's bicuspids would go bad
suddenly. (It's not baby bottle mouth.)

Are you sure that they did go suddenly? Could the dentist have not
caught it before?

Two different people have pointed out to me that this ped dentist might be
hard to leave. He's a mandatory child abuse reporter and he already
believes my child's teeth issues are from neglect. I don't really see how
a mother who has brought her 51 month old child to a dentist 8 times now
can be accused of dental neglect, but it's something to consider. I
think it is QUITE possible he could report me for not obtaining
treatment [from him] if I don't go ahead with his treatment plan.

Ah, I wouldn't let this guy hold that kind of sway over you. First of
all, do you have your son's visits documented (like in a diary or
planner)? And you have the other dentist's (it sounds like he went to
more than one) records.

In all likelihood if you never go back, he'll never think about it
again. If you mention that you are getting a 2nd opinion, then he
might try and cause problems. Just never contact them again. And if
they call you to follow up, just say that you took him to another
dentist that he connects with better, and give them the name and
number.

Any advice would be appreciated. I particularly want to know what you
think about my idea of using valium. I'm not in favor of drugging my
child on a regular basis (!) and the way he was on valium really creeped
me out, but I do think it will be too much to ask him (particularly
now) to open wide and sit still while a guy wrestles around in his mouth
for 1/2 an hour.

Go to another pediatric dentist and ask some questions. I don't have
a problem with Valium, but I know that nitrous can work well, too.
But a new dentist in a cool new office might be all that's needed.

The third problem is that I just don't trust this dentist.

Don't go back. Seriously. If you don't trust him, then do NOT let him
work on your little boy.

I honestly did
not know he had used nitrous oxide when he did a tooth cleaning. I was
sitting right there and remember the mask, but it never occurred to me he
was sedating my child for a teeth cleaning (Sammy's third and first in a
pediatric practice and he'd never had problems before and he didn't
then but I didn't realize he was drugged.)

No offense, but what did you think the mask was for? I'm not sure
that nitrous was necessary for such a minor procedure, and doing all
procedures under it's use seems wierd, buuutttt...

The dentist also had never
heard of a paradoxical reaction to nitrous oxide (or didn't recognize one
when it occurred) and he also doens't trust me. BUT he's the only dentist
around here who does hospital dentistry on kids. The ONLY one.

Go farther away. It's worth it, believe me. A good dentist,
especially in childhood makes all the difference. My dad has
patients that come from more than an hour away because he's so gentle.
For years he had a sign up that said "we cater to cowards".

By the way, the pediatric dentist we take my stepson to doesn't allow
parents in the examining room because he says the parents scare kids
more than he does. He also NEVER does anything on the first visit,
because he wants them to get to know him and not associate him with
getting teeth worked on. He's also got a great sense of humor, and my
stepson *asks* when he gets to go back.

When we walked in for the first time, he was out in the waiting room
talking to a parent, and a little boy around 4 years old. Garrett was
probably seven at the time, and the dentist looked at Garrett and
pointed to the little boy, and deadpanned "He's getting married. He
told me." I knew instantly that the guy was a natural with kids.

That's what I mean - you'll know instantly when you meet a good
pediatric dentist. He also made a copy of Garrett's x-ray to send to
my dad, when he heard that my dad had done G's dentistry before we
moved.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

In misc.kids Cathy Weeks wrote:

Well, valium is one option. Are you sure the reaction was to the
nitrous though? The dentist seems like a jerk, and perhaps your son
got frightened.

As one poster pointed out, he might have been on a bad trip. :-) A
friend of mine who is a dentist (in the air force, not private
practice) pointed out that it releases inhibitions and maybe he was
putting on a brave front but the bravery fell away and he got all sobby
and clingy like he wanted to be. I don't know.

We really weren't tense about this. We were looking forward to getting
his teeth fixed. I pointed out that Mommy can do lots of things but Mommy
can't fix teeth so we needed this guy. I didn't LIKE him, but I didn't
HATE him or distrust him. The opposite was true: I expected he knew how
to make a child feel at ease and trusted him to do that.

It's just too weird that all my toddler's bicuspids would go bad
suddenly. (It's not baby bottle mouth.)

Are you sure that they did go suddenly? Could the dentist have not
caught it before?

I'm trying to recall if he had x-rays taken at his first exam. I think
they might not have done any. He'd had a cleaning approximately 7 months
before he presented with five cavities (including an abscessed
tooth.) There was not indication at the time that there was a problem,
but it wasn't an exam. He'd had been critically ill a year ago and I
wonder if some aspect of that was related - the drugs they treated him
with, or maybe just the physical nature of having tubes in your nose and
throat and not brushing your teeth for 10 or 11 days? It never occurred
to me to brush his teeth when he was not able to take any fluids or foods
by mouth and had tubes in it. (Didn't occur to any of his 14 doctors or
20 nurses either, I might point out.)

I honestly did
not know he had used nitrous oxide when he did a tooth cleaning. I was
sitting right there and remember the mask, but it never occurred to me he
was sedating my child for a teeth cleaning (Sammy's third and first in a
pediatric practice and he'd never had problems before and he didn't
then but I didn't realize he was drugged.)

No offense, but what did you think the mask was for? I'm not sure
that nitrous was necessary for such a minor procedure, and doing all
procedures under it's use seems wierd, buuutttt...

Good question. I'm kicking myself over this one. The dentist weirded me
out at first by insisting that I cancel my imminant cleaning appointment
with our old dentist and make one with him. I didn't see why, and he said
it was because he familiarizes the children with his office procedures and
develops a rapport with him. Okay, fine. So I delayed my son's already
over-due cleaning appointment.

When we finally got there and he did the whole medical shebang I figured
it was just a mock-up. I would definitely recall if he had said, "I'm
giving your son a sedative now." He absolutely did NOT tell me. I sat
there reading a People Magazine (a guilty pleasure of dental offices) and
tried not to hover.

I don't recall my son being odd during or after. He's a cheerful
compliant little boy most of the time. He did fall asleep in the car ride
home, but that's not terribly unusual and it still didn't occur to me that
he had been drugged.

Go farther away. It's worth it, believe me. A good dentist,
especially in childhood makes all the difference. My dad has
patients that come from more than an hour away because he's so gentle.
For years he had a sign up that said "we cater to cowards".

I have been hearing this. I got into a conversation with my best friend
about this yesterday. Her daughter sees an oncologist 100 miles away. I
was groaning about the logistical nightmares of frequent visits that far
away, and she pointed out that it is worth it for a life-or-death scenario
with one follow-up visit a year. Is it worth it for a happier dental
relationship six times a year? I think not!

By the way, the pediatric dentist we take my stepson to doesn't allow
parents in the examining room because he says the parents scare kids
more than he does.

I'd be okay with this if I trusted the dentist. I don't trust this
guy. He doesn't ask that, either. The office is clearly set up with a
parent chair next to every kid. He has three kids in three different
stations going at a time in one big room. Maybe that's why he threw us
out, he didn't want Sammy's fussing to upset the other kids.

Thanks for your suggestions and insight. I really needed to help get this
straight in my head.

Wendy

Tsu Dho Nimh wrote in message . ..

I wuuld file a formla writte complaint with whoever governs these
people. If they don't recognize the symptoms of an adverse
reaciton, and didn't warn the kid he's "feel floaty, they deserve
to be reprimanded.

That would be the American Dental Association. http://www.ada.com/

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

Wendy Marsden wrote:

My four year old finally, FINALLY got his dentist visit today, four months
after an x-ray showed a startling five cavities. Our dentist promptly
referred us to a pediatric dentist, saying she wasn't set up to do that
much work on a small kid. The pediatric dentist fit us in for an initial
exam and a teeth cleaning, but couldn't get us an appointment to treat him
until today.

Things started out fine, everyone was cheerful and no one was scared or
anxious. He got in the chair and was laughing and fine. But five minutes
into the nitrous oxide he suddenly started whimpering and curling up and
got clingy and weepy and scared. I wasn't able to figure out what was
causing the anxiety - I really think it was a reaction to the nitrous
oxide. The dentist just thought I had a wimpy boy that I babied - which
wouldn't be a crime if I did, but that doesn't happen to be the case.

The damn dentist threw us out. So much for pediatric dentists knowing
how to work with kids! He offered no solution beyond we'll try again on
Monday. Meanwhile, this dentist is a 45 minute drive from my home, he
isn't a preferred provider in my insurance plan and he thinks I've caused
my son's mouth problems through neglect (which just isn't true.)

The pediatric dentist was talking about scheduling an OR for sometime in
the winter (months and months from now) to do all four fillings at
once. I'm disinclined to put my kid through general anasthesia
again. (Long story, but probably related to why he has such weirdly
horrible teeth: he had a traumatic illness and hospitalization 15 months
ago.)

I'm thinking of finding a dentist that does NOT use nitrous oxide but who
will prescribe a valium before the visit. What do you think?

-- Wendy

Sorry but I think your child may be spoiled and knows how
to get your attention and avoid situations he doesn't
enjoy. While he may have been anxious, you could have
helped more than you did. Nitrous didn't have anything
to do with this incident.

-Karen

Karen DeMent writes:

Sorry but I think your child may be spoiled and knows how
to get your attention and avoid situations he doesn't
enjoy. While he may have been anxious, you could have
helped more than you did. Nitrous didn't have anything
to do with this incident.

Agreed. These are not the effects of nitrous oxide. And Valium would
be a step in the wrong direction.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Wendy Marsden wrote:

(snip)
The damn dentist threw us out. So much for pediatric dentists knowing
how to work with kids! He offered no solution beyond we'll try again on
Monday. Meanwhile, this dentist is a 45 minute drive from my home, he
isn't a preferred provider in my insurance plan and he thinks I've
caused
my son's mouth problems through neglect (which just isn't true.)

The pediatric dentist was talking about scheduling an OR for sometime in
the winter (months and months from now) to do all four fillings at
once. I'm disinclined to put my kid through general anasthesia
again. (Long story, but probably related to why he has such weirdly
horrible teeth: he had a traumatic illness and hospitalization 15 months
ago.)

I'm thinking of finding a dentist that does NOT use nitrous oxide but
who
will prescribe a valium before the visit. What do you think?

-- Wendy

Hello Wendy,
I think you should look for another pediatric dentist and that you should
carefully check his/her credentials. He/she should have a degree in
pediatric dentistry and be board certified. Be aware that sometimes
dentists limit their practices to certain types of dentistry without
actually being board certified in that specialty.
Hope this helps.

Cathy Weeks wrote in :
[snip]
There are other drugs that can be given to him, and many novicaine
injections can be done painlessly if the dentist is skillful (not all
of them - injections to the roof of the mouth pretty much always
hurt). I'm not a dentist, but my dad is. I would suggest meeting
with another pediatric dentist and asking some questions.
[snip]

In the UK, it is common to put some gel on the place where the injection
will be to numb the skin, and make it less painful. I don't know whatthe
gel contains, but it is used for adults as well as children.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:56:27 -0400, Karen DeMent
wrote:

Wendy Marsden wrote:

My four year old finally, FINALLY got his dentist visit today, four months
after an x-ray showed a startling five cavities.

Ouch, jujube addict?


Our dentist promptly
referred us to a pediatric dentist, saying she wasn't set up to do that
much work on a small kid.

Yup.

The pediatric dentist fit us in for an initial
exam and a teeth cleaning, but couldn't get us an appointment to treat him
until today.

Things started out fine, everyone was cheerful and no one was scared or
anxious.

Not even the dentist ......

He got in the chair and was laughing and fine. But five minutes
into the nitrous oxide he suddenly started whimpering and curling up and
got clingy and weepy and scared. I wasn't able to figure out what was
causing the anxiety - I really think it was a reaction to the nitrous
oxide.

Yes.

The dentist just thought I had a wimpy boy that I babied - which
wouldn't be a crime if I did, but that doesn't happen to be the case.


So the doc is an amateur psychologist?


The damn dentist threw us out.

Wow!

So much for pediatric dentists knowing
how to work with kids! He offered no solution beyond we'll try again on
Monday. Meanwhile, this dentist is a 45 minute drive from my home, he
isn't a preferred provider in my insurance plan and he thinks I've caused
my son's mouth problems through neglect (which just isn't true.)


Insurance gumming up the works again .....

The pediatric dentist was talking about scheduling an OR for sometime in
the winter (months and months from now) to do all four fillings at
once.

NO WAY! CEASE and DESIST now!

I'm disinclined to put my kid through general anasthesia
again. (Long story, but probably related to why he has such weirdly
horrible teeth: he had a traumatic illness and hospitalization 15 months
ago.)

Want to see some interesting court cases?



I'm thinking of finding a dentist that does NOT use nitrous oxide but who
will prescribe a valium before the visit. What do you think?


Yup, or in the bad old days we slipped the kid a Mickey Finn. That was
chloral hydrate ~ today we have much better!


Joel

-- Wendy

Sorry but I think your child may be spoiled and knows how
to get your attention and avoid situations he doesn't
enjoy. While he may have been anxious, you could have
helped more than you did. Nitrous didn't have anything
to do with this incident.

WHERE did this part come from???


-Karen

--
Joel M. Eichen, .
Philadelphia PA

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