Nitrous Oxide for a Filling

My daughter had that when younger.
She was fine.
It did help.
The Pediatric Dentist knows how and they use this commonly.

I firmly believe in painless dentristry.

I use nitrous oxide. And when my kids were little, they got nitrous oxide if the dentist suggested it.

Good luck to you and yours.

My daughter had to get a filling and a crown and they used NO. It went wonderfully! She sat and watched a movie and it was really funny to watch her because she started moving her hands all around like she was "feeling good". No pain at all! I wouldn't be too worried, after he goes through it he'll be like, "no big deal mom". then afterward, praise him for being super brave and it'll make his day! Good luck :)

Our dentist used it routinely with our youngest... he had quite a bit of dental work when he was young. He did just wonderfully! It relaxed him so much that he even fell asleep in the chair one time. Because of "pleasant" experiences at the dentist's office, he was never afraid or resistant about going to the dentist.

And.... our dentist also is a member of our church..... one time, Nick made that "connection" and commented one Sunday, "Hey, there's my dentist!"

It also helped that the dentist had children my son's age...... he was always very gentle, with a soothing voice, and very small hands.

BTW... this is our family dentist... not a pediatric dentist... but he was great with kids!

Yes they do use it. Regular dentist don't (well, mine doesn't on children and I'm glad he's willing to send me away to get it done). The idea is that it's safer for the kids to be still than to freak out when they start hearing drilling. My daughter is five and had to do cavity filling (yikes) and was able to do it at our regular dentist. Our dentist always does a pretend trial to see if the kids can handle the sounds and poking around. If they squirm alot, they tell me I have to go to pediatrics so they can get NO. Luckily all my kids take a dental exam well (they get a toy afterwards). My kids are very open to the dentist and I in no way make it scary. So all my kids love the dentist and love the doctor's. I guess I'm lucky. I also sometimes let them listen to the iPod or play a game on the iPhone. Next thing you know, they are done.

Our dentist does not routinely use it but will use it if needed. Out of the 3 of my kids, one has never needed it (he's the one that has only had a couple cavities his entire life), one has needed it some times and not others and my third has so far needed it every time, she's only 3 and has already had a number of problems with her teeth.
None of them have had an issue with the gas at all. They use a low dose and do not send them out of the room until they have been on oxygen for a little bit to clear it out of their system.
It does not have a lasting effect on your system and flushes out with oxygen.
If it will help your son relax I highly recommend using it. It is much better for them as well as safer for them to have it to relax.

My kids have never gotten sick from laughing gas. One fell asleep while two of his teeth were pulled (I couldn't believe it!) and my other son, who was very nervous, was able to accept the procedure (filling his tooth that had very little enamel - he had 4 of them and through no fault of his, needed fillings until his adult teeth came in. No more cavities after that.)

Your dentist is doing the right thing. If your son moves or jerks at the wrong time, it could hurt him a lot.

We are lucky these days to have this option. They didn't do this when I was a little girl. Even if your dental insurance doesn't pay for it, do this favor for your son. It may make it so that he doesn't hate dentists when he grows up, when you can't make him go anymore

Dawn

Both of my grandchildren have had nitrous oxide and fared well. My grandson has special needs and could not have had his teeth filled without it. Yes, it is common for pediatric dentists to use it.

We have a pediatric dentist and he uses NO. My youngest had it for a filling when he was little. Not a problem one. It was funny that when they put the little mask on him he giggled! He had the look of "what the heck, I just giggled!" I told him later it is not called laughing gas for nothing!

My fondest childhood dentist visit memory goes as follows: my brother and I needed to get fillings, he was 8 yrs younger than me and so quite young at the time. In order to show HIM that it wasn't scary, the dentist gave me some nitrous oxide first. After a few minutes, EVERYTHING seemed so funny! I was so relaxed! It felt great! My brother saw me all happy and in a good mood, and so he relaxed enough to let them administer it to him as well. We both got our fillings and spent a few minutes giggling together. To this day, I enjoy dentist visits.

My 4 1/2 year old son just got back from getting a filling and had Nitrous Oxide! The whole filling/procedure took about 10-15 minutes and he came out just fine... hungry and thirsty. The Dentist suggested not eating/drinking for 3 hours before and he did just fine... no lasting effects. They didn't even have to use novicane this time because it was small and the laughing gas did the trick. He shoud be fine!

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Our pediatric dentist only does the work in the out patient surgery center and does it all under general anesthesia. It's so wonderful for the kids. They sit there and watch TV then they go to sleep. The anesthesiologist puts the IV in while they are out and they do all the work in a few minutes and they take the IV out, the kids wake up, NO side effects at all. Very easy.

My friend that is a dentist won't even have nitrous in his office. He says it's just too dangerous.

I suggest if you don't want your child to have a deep life long fear of dentists that you do something that will help him sleep through this. He won't like it.