To think that general anaesthetic is a little dangerous for a tooth extraction on a 2yr old

[Shelly32]

My DD was born 7 weeks premature and as a result , the enamel on her teeth wasn't prepared when she was first fed. One of her teeth developed a hole (the rest haven't thank goodness!) and for the past year she's lived without it causing any pain. Now she is complaining of pain and the dentist has advised that she should have it extracted at a Children's Hospital at the end of Jan. She will have to go under anaesthetic...Is there anything else they can do such as mild sedation that I could ask for? I'm really concerned that she's too young to undergo general.

A mild sedative wouldn't be successful for such a procedure IMO ( children's nurse). They only use very small amounts and are very light these days- what are your worries?

I don't know. I think it would be pretty traumatic to have sedation and a tooth removed though. (don't know never had a tooth removed so could be talking bollox!)

DS had a general anasthetic at 12 weeks for an operation and it was fine.

He also had a general at 2 to have a tooth removed that he broke by falling flat on his face . And that was fine too.

He also had a general the week before having his tooth removed to have a small piece of broken glass removed from his foot.

I was terrified the first time, but it really was fine. As were the other occasions.

I was calling to the anesthetist as they wheeled him in that he was to treat DS as his most important patient that day. "He may just be another child to you, but he's all I've got." Was heard echoing down the corridor from me. I also asked him how many times he'd anesthetised a 3 month old and how much experience he'd had .

Try not to worry too much.

I guess I'm just worried she might have a reaction to it, or not wake up from it...I'm probably just being overly worried...Thanks for the response though...at least I know there's no point in asking for it now.

Not a bad mother really. Honest!

Thanks FolkGirl. If it all went well for a 3 month old, then i probably shouldn't worry too much about a 2yr old. L The wail down the corridor will be mine soon!! :)

Kids are as likely to have a reaction to an anaesthetic as they are a sedative. Please don't worry x

I've had one under GA and one under LA as an adult. I don't think a toddler could tolerate the LA one TBH. its quite scary, although there is no pain you can feel everything, all the cracking and crunching and pulling and you have to stay very still - I bit down on the surgeons hand because it was so uncomfortable and unpleasant (involuntarily ) and had my eyes screwed shut through it to tolerate it

My dd had had 7 general anaesthetics by the time she was 2, she had a few short ones, similar I would imagine in length to one used for a tooth extraction and she came around very quickly. She will be very well looked after, I'm sure it will be worse for you than for her (in the nicest way possible).

Shelly32 It's understandable to be worried! I think they must hear that wail from everyone! They probably just roll their eyes and get on with doing a really good job!!

When DS had his tooth removed, he was was in and out in pretty much no time. The amount of GA they use is tiny.

Really, don't worry!

Thank you all so much for the kind messages. Hopefully everything will go well!! :)

i worked in community dental for years

every monday we would have scores of kids booked in for extractions under GAs. poor little souls sometimes had 5,6,7 teeth out at a time

Very very safe. Especially now that it has to happen in a setting with full rescus facilities. There is no other way of getting the tooth out without seriously upsetting her. And it sounds like not removing it is not an option. FWIW I used to work in operating theatres for kiddies' extractions. For small children they were usually "out" for what seemed like no more than 5 minutes, and parents could accompany their children into theatre and then wait in recovery so mummy was the first person they saw when they woke up.

A GA is far safer than deep sedation, which is what you would need to extract a tooth from a 2 y.o. Light sedation would not be enough.

With a GA, your DD's airway and breathing will be controlled and monitored by an anaesthetist. With sedation, the patient can suddenly stop breathing or vomit then inhale the vomit which is highly dangerous.

Discuss your concerns with the anaesthetists. They will be totally used to parents having questions & concerns and happy to answer them.

I think a 2 year old awake for a tooth extraction would be traumatised for life. I would be too, and I'm 36 (and a big wuss, which I fully admit!!).

Its only natural to be concerned, but I'm sure they wouldn't have recommended it unless it was absolutely necessary.

Very very safe. If something goes wrong your child is in a major hospital with full emergency support. DD had a tooth removed as an emergency after a dentist's cock up resulted in an abscess (long long story), under sedation - it was done at what was supposed to be a specialist dentist. It was a disaster and it did traumatise her for a very long time. She was 5 at the time and refused to sit in a dentist's chair for the next 4 years.

Similar problems - I had IV antibiotics at about 4-5 months pg and that stopped the enamel forming on her premolars. She had the next three molars removed under ga (well planned) at our local hospital with lots of advice and lots of specialist paediatic dental nurse care and was absolutely fine.

Your lo will be fine. Mine both survived ga's at 15 months and 21 months respectively for grommets.

My DS has had several GAs for various things. He has always been fine. My son was slightly sick once due to the GA, but they monitor children very closely and take very good care if them.

You are doing the right thing, don't feel guilty.

I had a wobbly milk tooth pulled out by the dentist when i was maybe 5 or 6 - I'm surprised it didnt scar me for life. (a) it was a perfectly healthy and just a normal wobbly tooth (b) ther was no need to take it out at all.

So, I can only deduce that a load of injections into a toddler and some yanking and tugging will indeed upset her and quite probably give her a fear of dentists.. A GA is mush better.

DS has had to have teeth extracted when he was 4 and again at 7. ( I don't really know what we did wrong, but think the culprit was probably sweet drinks - his sister has been much luckier with hers )

Anyway DS was fine, went off to sleep very peacefully whilst listening to his Buzz Lightyear toy say " To infinity and beyond ! "
I was very thankful to hear all had gone well and to be able to watch him come round in the recovery area.

I feel there's no point feeling guilty eg. about teeth, you are probably doing your best as a parent. If you're like me you might want to make a resolution to try hard to avoid sweet drinks in future ... but I think the main thing is to try and be strong and calm for your DCs on the day and help the medical team do their best for your child. I took some music to listen to on head-phones while I was waiting which helped. ( No point sitting there worrying it won't help ! )

I feel so much better after reading all these posts about children who've coped well with GA. JugglingWithGoldAndMyrrh We have always avoided sweet drinks as we were warned by the dentist on the first visit that being prem, the girls were likely to have weak enamel. My main trouble is weighing up the pros and cons of fruit which can also do damage. Thanks for the kind words :)

The good thing is that as she is so young she will have a very experienced consultant anaesthetist dealing with her.
Good luck, :)

Op, I think most parents worry when their lo's need something done as it makes them feel helpess, it's understandable to feel anxious about it.

My dd had her 1st GA at 19 hours old as she has Spina Bifida and had to have her back closed up, she then went on to have another GA for brain surgery at 4 days old.

She has since had 2 other ops and countless GA's for MRI's, she is also due to have a 12+ hour op later this year.

Good Luck

My son has had GA twice, once at 5.5 months for an MRI and once at 13 months for minor surgery.

The anaesthesiologist told me before his first one 'I've been doing this for 30 years. I've never had anyone react badly to it.'

Fairly reassuring!!!!

DD was much older than your DD, she was 7 I think. She too had problems with her baby molars, not growing properly, due to an infection I had, when I was pg with her.

She had all four taken out under general. The whole procedure was done within half an hour and we were back in the car on the way home within an hour of her being in recovery! (She also demanded we stopped for icecream on the way!)