Services

Prevention – Our goal is to send your child into adulthood with no cavities, no fillings, and no oral disease. For most children we recommend a visit to the dentist every six months. This allows the dentist to assess your child’s risk for oral disease and check for early signs of tooth decay. With a thorough cleaning and professional fluoride application, these visits can lower your child’s risk for tooth decay. Tooth decay is a preventable disease, and we want to give you the knowledge and skills that you need to keep your child cavity-free.

Evaluation of growth and development – Even with a good prevention program and impeccable home-care, many children will develop problems of an orthodontic nature (most are mild and very manageable). Every examination will include an evaluation of your child’s growth, jaw relationship, and overall orthodontic situation. If we feel that your child can benefit from orthodontic treatment, we will make recommendations and referrals as needed.

Restorative and surgical treatment – For those children that need dental treatment, we will design a treatment plan that meets the unique needs of your individual child. Whether your child is experiencing rampant decay or just has a small cavity, we will restore your child to a state of dental health in an environment that is friendly, safe, and comfortable.

Nitrous oxide analgesia (laughing gas) – Nitrous oxide / oxygen analgesia is a very safe and mild form of sedation that we use routinely in our office. A fitted mask is placed over the nose, and the gases are absorbed into the lungs through normal breathing. Uptake of the gas is very quick, as is its elimination, so there are very few lingering effects. As your child breathes the gases, they may experience a sense of euphoria or even giddiness (hence the name “laughing gas”). Even more importantly, nitrous oxide raises the pain threshold and suppresses the gag reflex, diminishing the unpleasant stimuli that some people associate with dental treatment.

Conscious sedation – For those children that need it, we perform dental treatment under conscious sedation in our office. In the vast majority of cases, sedative medications are administered orally in the form of flavored liquids. Conscious sedation will cause most children to become relaxed and drowsy, but it is not intended to induce a state of unconsciousness. Conscious sedation is a wonderful tool to help those patients that are unable to cooperate due to their young age or anxiety. It is also very useful to make invasive or long procedures more comfortable for the patient.

General anesthesia – General anesthesia (GA) is a controlled state of unconsciousness that eliminates awareness, movement, and discomfort during dental treatment. We perform treatment under GA in an operating room setting, usually on an outpatient basis. The GA is performed by an anesthesiologist in a properly equipped and staffed OR. We reserve this option for those children with severe anxiety, extensive dental needs, and/or special health care needs.