nitrous is worthless. I would insist upon general and calm the child during the IV placement and transition. SOP in this case is a charge for the appt and the dentist to fire the family for non-compliance.
Man, I wish "calming the child" would have worked for my kid before her general. I had to hold her down to the table while two people held the mask in place to gas her so they could then insert the IV. And that was the "non-traumatic" route that we paid out the ass for.
Just in case you have to go through it again (and I desperately hope you don't!), you can insist on something like Versed, which is an anti-anxiety amnesiac to be given ahead of time.
I always laugh when, in a community of people who know exactly everything about their child, that no one simply assumes that this woman knows what type of tantrums the child can and can't be discouraged from. Maybe the kid is well aware that the office is ridiculously over priced and protesting.
Am I the only person that loves the dentist? Seriously, since I was a kid. I had major dental work at age 8 and no one could believe that I sat through a few hours worth of work without complaining.
I love mine too! The dentist I used to see is a hottie, my new dentist (the one I'm working for) is a hottie. Eye candy makes dental work so much more fun. Even better is working for a sexy dentist who happens to be very nice!
I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt and no, I don't think a dentist should charge someone who doesn't complete the treatment due to pain or fear. Unexplained no-shows? Absolutely. Actually, I think it's very empowering to let a child see that they are NOT required to do whatever a doctor or dentist says, when they say, and how they say, that they have the ultimate authority over their body and what happens to it
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For the sake of argument though - Don't the parents have a responsibility to prevent and/or treat diseases (even of the mouth) if the child is too young to make an educated decision on their own?
Oh, if you meant about my not forcing my kid, the operative phrase there was "with them hysterically frightened". I will not hesitate to call an end to a procedure if I think it's warranted, but that would be in order to find a way to get through it without the trauma. The particular thing that spawned this is my son having a 24 hour EEG, which is a completely non-painful and non-invasive procedure that was nonetheless absolutely terrifying for an 18 month old. My son needed his EEG, but I should have had him sedated for having the leads put on his head, and I should have taken him back and had him sedated again for having them taken off. Looking back, I don't understand why they didn't... they sedated him for the one hour one
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Well, I was referring mainly to your phrase "think it's very empowering to let a child see that they are NOT required to do whatever a doctor or dentist says, when they say, and how they say, that they have the ultimate authority over their body and what happens to it."
Hysterically frightened or not, there are some cases that [I believe] should be handled under the control of the parents and physician. Obviously, you do what you can to calm the child, but if that means anesthetizing a screaming monster, then do it. Now, I don't mean a minor cavity filling, or dental work in general, but I really hate the idea a lot of people have that all trained professionals are always wrong.
To "empower" a child by saying "Sure! You don't have to take care of yourself and I won't either!" is irresponsible parenting *in some cases* IMO.
/\ Not all directed towards you, obviously, as I agree with a lot of your comment. Just a general rant.
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Just in case you have to go through it again (and I desperately hope you don't!), you can insist on something like Versed, which is an anti-anxiety amnesiac to be given ahead of time.
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I <3 my dentist.
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Hysterically frightened or not, there are some cases that [I believe] should be handled under the control of the parents and physician. Obviously, you do what you can to calm the child, but if that means anesthetizing a screaming monster, then do it. Now, I don't mean a minor cavity filling, or dental work in general, but I really hate the idea a lot of people have that all trained professionals are always wrong.
To "empower" a child by saying "Sure! You don't have to take care of yourself and I won't either!" is irresponsible parenting *in some cases* IMO.
/\ Not all directed towards you, obviously, as I agree with a lot of your comment. Just a general rant.
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He WOULD get the work done though.
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