Dental knowledge: treatment under general anaesthesia for children
State-of-the-art anaesthetic techniques allow anaesthesia tailored precisely to the procedure in children.
Paediatric dentistry
When general anaesthesia makes sense
Treatment free of fear and stress for small patients
The aim in treating children's teeth is to switch off the sensation of pain. General anaesthesia can also relieve anxiety and dampen consciousness so far that a child does not experience the treatment at all. That is particularly helpful with very small children, who often shrink from dental treatment and from injections in particular.
Experience with sensitive or anxious children has shown that in certain situations, especially with extensive restorative work, general anaesthesia is preferable in order to address the child's fear of the dentist. The procedure, otherwise associated with fear, is then neither felt nor remembered. Modern anaesthetic techniques and well-equipped facilities allow the dentist, together with an anaesthetist, to match the anaesthesia precisely to the procedure.
Children are not small adults
Very young children under three often cannot yet understand the point of dental treatment. They are afraid of injections or refuse to cooperate at all and keep their mouth shut, so a local anaesthetic cannot be given. For more complex work such as a complete restoration of the milk teeth, general anaesthesia or nitrous oxide is therefore recommended. More extensive treatment that would otherwise require several appointments for a small patient can also be combined into one session under anaesthesia.
Local anaesthetic, hypnosis or general anaesthesia – in every case a thorough consultation about the anaesthetic is necessary. The decision is taken by the dentist in consultation with the parents and an anaesthetist. That consultation focuses on explaining the possible risks to patient and parents and on establishing the child's general state of health. Even though anaesthesia today is safe and precisely controllable, general anaesthesia is the last option to choose.
The key points at a glance
- The aim of any dental treatment in children is to switch off the sensation of pain.
- General anaesthesia can also relieve fear and dampen consciousness so far that the child does not experience the treatment.
- Very young children under three often cannot yet understand the point of treatment, so a local anaesthetic cannot be given.
Answered briefly