Conscious sedation (laughing gas), which is delivered through a nose piece, lowers the child’s anxiety and fear. It also reduces the pain perception from the injection.

For this reason, we recommend this on almost every child we treat unless there are underlying medical issues.

The child can breathe normally, is fully awake, and can follow instructions.  In most cases, this is all children need to get through an appointment and to help build their confidence in the chair.

More information about laughing gas and your kid’s dentist appointment.

Jr. Smiles® does provide General Anesthesia, which can be compared to going to sleep.

With General Anesthesia, the child does not breath on their own, will not remember anything leading up to treatment and right after treatment, and will not be able to follow instruction. This behavior modification is more controlled. The children are put fully to sleep and a breathing tube / respirator is placed so we ensure the child is breathing the entire time.

This is called ‘Protecting the Airway.’  Moderate and Deep Sedation do not protect the airway. For all of our General Anesthesia cases, we bring in a pediatric anesthesiologist (a doctor who only focuses on putting children to sleep and waking them up safely) while your dentist performs the treatment needed on your child.

More information about General Anesthesia and kids dentist appointment.

When the child is too anxious, has specific special health care needs, or is defiant, deep sedation or general anesthesia must be considered to treat the child safely and to avoid creating a life-long fearful dental patient.

During Moderate and Deep sedation, the child can often breathe on their own, but will not remember the treatment and may or may not follow instruction. As the sedation gets deeper, the chance for the child to stop breathing on their own increases. The point where that can happen is unclear and different for every individual. For this reason, Jr. Smiles® does not offer Moderate or Deep Sedation.