Terrified About Going to Dentist; Anyone Get Laughing Gas When Breastfeeding?

First, I am so sorry you had such terrible experiences with the dentist when you were a child. No one should have to go through those kinds of experiences. I know you can't change things now but, as you may already know, if you visit your dentist regularly and take care of your teeth as your dentist recommends, your gums will become more healthy and much less
tender and fragile . . . which will make future dental procedures much less uncomfortable. Meanwhile, for your next cleaning, I wonder if you could allow yourself to simply let the dentist give you local anesthesia before the cleaning. The administration of local anesthesia isn't nearly as bad as it once was. They put a topical anesthetic on your gum before injecting the main anesthetic into your gum.
Also, even though you didn't ask about this,
I'd like you to think about how your attitudes about dental health
might affect your children's attitudes as they are growing up.
Hang tough, mom!

Being given laughing gas is completely different in pregnancy vs breastfeeding. When you're pregnant, the gas will transfer directly through the placenta, which is why they wouldn't give it to the one poster during her pregnancy. If you're breastfeeding - especially a 1yo - chances are very slim that it's going to get into your milk. And even if it does, the dose should be trivial.

When it comes to medications/drugs/etc, Dr. Jack Newman has a great excerpt in his book that says to think of it in terms of your blood alcohol level when you drink. As your body metabolizes the alcohol, it also leaves your milk. The more alcohol you have in a shorter period of time, the more alcohol will be in your milk, and it'll take longer for it to leave your milk. If you only have 1 drink, and it takes you an hour to drink it, the alcohol level in your milk will be nonexistent, so there's no reason to pump and dump.

There are lots of Dentists out there now that will actually put you to sleep to do dental work. I went to one in Tulsa Ok. There were two dentists, a father and son, and the father had become an anesthesiologist just to do this in their clinic. I was put out using Versaid, I think that is sort of what it sounded like, and I had work done and woke up feeling pretty okay. They numbed my while I was under so there was very little lasting pain and no trauma. Call your insurance provider and get a list of dentists and call around.

Greetings Lilmama, I have a wonderful dentist here in Hayward Ca. He knows that I have had horrible experiances with past dentists and is patient and kind. He has actualy worked on my son who has a low plattlet count and bleeds easily. See about going to a pediatric dentist . So many things have progressed in the pat few years that my dentisit has been able to work on my highly sensitive teeth without pain medication . But if you are this concerned then speak to your dentist and just honestly tell him your concerns and if he can't do it then he will be able to reccomend someone who can. I have learned with 5 pregnancies that it is always best to have as many medical proceedures done as possible before getting pregnant once again.
Good Luck and I hope you are wiser than I was as I passed my fears on to my eldest child but not tho te rest.

I absolutely relate with the terrified of the dentist part! ARGH! I have never had a bad experience like you, I just almost wet myself every time I hear the drill. I have ground down my canines so they are super sensitive to air.
Bleh
So, my denstist knows that I am a nervous wreck. They let me listen to the radio on headset. I hum (I know it's ridiculous, but I hum LOUD so I don't hear the drill), my feet move all over the place! I am a mess. But, my dentist is sooooo kind and patient. It's actually in my file that I am a nervous nelly.
I don't know about laughing gas. When I went a couple of months ago (about 25 weeks prego) they just let me do the above mentioned things and I was able to get through it and have two teeth filled. They would not give me gas. Ask about breastfeeding. I am pretty sure you would want to go before you get pregnant with the next so you can use the laughing gas.
L.

I feel for you. My first trip to the dentist was when I was 12 and I too got drilled without any novocaine or pain meds. The dentist and his assistant actually held me down in the chair b/c I was trying to get out it hurt so bad. I had no idea that it didn't need to hurt like that. Needless to say I've had issues ever since. There are wonderful dentists out there that understand. As for the laughing gas, ask your pediatrician. They know what passes through breast milk. If you need to, pump and dump. I really think you should get your teeth taken car of now before you get pregnant again. Good luck to you!