Treatment under anaesthetic in children

Treatment without fear and stress for small patients?

The aim in treating children's teeth is to switch off the sensation of pain. Beyond that, an anaesthetic can also relieve states of anxiety and dampen consciousness to the point where a child does not perceive the treatment at all. This is particularly helpful with very small children, who often shrink from dental treatment and from injections above all.
Experience with sensitive or anxious children shows that in certain situations – especially with extensive restoration of the dentition – a general anaesthetic is preferable, in order to meet the child's fear of the dentist. For the children, a procedure otherwise bound up with fear is neither felt nor remembered. Modern anaesthetic techniques and well-equipped surgeries allow the dentist, together with an anaesthetist, to match the anaesthetic precisely to the procedure.

Children are not small adults

Very young children under the age of three in particular often cannot yet grasp the point of dental treatment. They are afraid of injections or refuse to cooperate at all and keep their mouth shut. A local anaesthetic cannot be given. For more complex measures, such as restoring all the milk teeth, a general anaesthetic or nitrous oxide is therefore recommended. More extensive treatments that would otherwise require several appointments for the small patient can also be combined under anaesthetic.
Local anaesthetic, hypnosis or general anaesthetic: in every case a detailed pre-anaesthetic consultation is necessary. The decision for an anaesthetic is taken by the dentist in agreement with the parents and an anaesthetist. That consultation centres on informing patient and parents about possible risks and on clarifying the general state of health. Even though anaesthesia today is safe and precisely controllable, a general anaesthetic remains the option to be chosen last.