Young children with dental pain and/or infection require treatment at any age—sometimes that means your child will need to go under general anesthesia or sedation. Of course, there are many reasons for this. Some dental procedures require your child to lie completely still, there may be a lot to fix, or the noise of the drill may be scary. The goal is always to provide the safest, most pain-free treatment.
In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) updated the current guidelines for dentists and oral surgeons to follow when providing general anesthesia to children. It requires that there are always to be at least 2 people in the room who are trained to provide advanced life support measures in case there are any problems. One of these people will be the dentist or performing the procedure and the other will be the anesthesiologist, Dr. Stephen R. Smith.
