Welcome again to our office and thank you for choosing us to provide your childs dental treatment utilizing pediatric sedation.
Before we are able to administer the sedative medication/s, it is necessary for the doctor and staff to perform a series of physical assessments and health evaluations on your child. The results of these will assist the doctor in deciding on the best sedation protocol for your child. This preoperative evaluation will include the following:
- Determination of your child’s temperament.
- Determination of your child’s vital signs:
- Weight (standing on scale)
- Temperature (temperature sensor placed in ear)
- Blood pressure (cuff placed on arm or leg)
- Heart rate, respiration rate, and blood oxygen saturation (sensors placed on various fingers or toes)
- Determination of nose and throat airway opening by examination of nose, tongue, tonsils, and throat. The nose is examined by looking into the nose. The throat is examined by having the child open their mouth as much as they can and protruding their tongue while saying ah. For those children unable to perform this activity, a tongue blade will be inserted into the mouth to depress the tongue to examine the tonsils and throat. Sometimes this exam may elicit a gag reflex.
- Determination of heart and lung sounds is accomplished with a stethoscope to listen to the chest and back while child does deep breathing.
Younger children may be fussy for these evaluation procedures. Every effort will be made to make these procedures as comfortable as possible. However, without the vital information from this series of physical assessments and evaluations, the doctor will be unable to decide whether or not your child is currently healthy enough to ensure the maximum level of safety for a sedation procedure.