NYT: "Should Kids Be Sedated for Dental Work?"

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Should Kids Be Sedated for Dental Work?
By CATHERINE SAINT LOUISAUG. 24, 2017

"By contrast, a general dentist may have taken a weekend course in moderate sedation. “Classroom training is not enough,” Dr. Studen-Pavlovich said.

Moderate sedation, also known as “conscious” sedation, requires more vigilance than minimal sedation, such as laughing gas, because children could slip from moderate to deep sedation, which means they can’t necessarily maintain their own airway. For moderate sedation, dentists should have rescue drugs on hand and monitor oxygen levels and heart rate. In addition, the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommends “a qualified individual” other than the dentist monitor the patient, because it “reduces risk of adverse events,” said Dr. Jeffrey S. Plagenhoef, the society’s president."

Should Kids Be Sedated for Dental Work?

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[Planktonmd]

The question should be: Should kids have so many unnecessary and expensive dental procedures?

 

[TorMed]

It's the sippy cups. Kids drink from them and have apple juice swilling in their mouths for 20 minutes. Rots their teeth which is why these kids are having deep cavities so young,


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[WholeLottaGame7]

Does this article add anything to the numerous other threads we've had on the topic?

 

[deleted171991]

It's the sippy cups. Kids drink from them and have apple juice swilling in their mouths for 20 minutes. Rots their teeth which is why these kids are having deep cavities so young,


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No, it's the apple juice. Kids should eat apples, not drink juice.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

No, it's the apple juice. Kids should eat apples, not drink juice.

Yep. Its why us PCP types have been telling parents for some time now that juice is pretty much a no-no. Water and milk only.

Though I'll admit to letting them get special drinks on the rare occasions we go out to eat - they loved their virgin strawberry daiquiris at the beach...

 

[pgg]

Clearly, the high fructose corn syrup industry wasn't content killing people with obesity and diabetes, and is now exploring more direct options, earlier in life.

 

[rakotomazoto]

My 3 year old calls juice, soda, kool aid, or any other sweet drinks "special drink" because we actually make a big deal of only letting him drink anything like that on special occasions. He brushes and flosses daily.

Although we have had some success with healthy eating so far, I am pretty sure that it will all fall apart once he is in school and starts to be more influenced by the unhealthy lifestyle that permeates American culture. I see it with his friends' parents and their kids already.

Tangent aside, you better believe I would never let a dentist sedate him while working on him without the proper staff and equipment. Healthy kids should never die because someone over medicated them to treat a cavity.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

It's the sippy cups. Kids drink from them and have apple juice swilling in their mouths for 20 minutes. Rots their teeth which is why these kids are having deep cavities so young,


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Why would the juice stay in their mouth any longer? I have never seen a kid swill juice in their mouth.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

No, it's the apple juice. Kids should eat apples, not drink juice.

Do you have kids?

 

[dhb]

Sugar is rapidly washed away from the oral cavity, foods that sticks on and between teeths are much worse.

 

[anbuitachi]

why would juice be worse than milk??

 

[nimbus]

why would juice be worse than milk??

It's not. They will both rot baby teeth.

 

[Gern Blansten]

My 3 year old calls juice, soda, kool aid, or any other sweet drinks "special drink" because we actually make a big deal of only letting him drink anything like that on special occasions.

I believe that Bill Cosby had a similarly named drink...

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

It's not. They will both rot baby teeth.

Yep, but milk has important nutrients (calcium and Vitamin D) so the benefits outweigh the risks. Fruit juice doesn't.

Plus we're now telling parents to limit milk to 20ish ounces/day anyway.

 

[deleted171991]

Yep, but milk has important nutrients (calcium and Vitamin D) so the benefits outweigh the risks. Fruit juice doesn't.

Brainwashed bull feces. There is enough calcium and vitamin D in fruits and vegetables. We are the only species that drinks other mammals' milk. It's ridiculous to think about it as healthy, especially the "enriched" industrial crap. In its undiluted form, cow milk is not good even for human infants, which should be the target population.

I can't think of much that comes in liquid form and is healthy, beyond water. There is a reason mother Nature packages everything with fiber.

It's not enriched food that makes kids healthy. It's playing outside in the sun, a lot, in a non-sterile dirty environment (e.g. a farm), and eating fruits and vegetables. If it's made in a factory, it's not healthy.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Brainwashed bull feces. There is enough calcium and vitamin D in fruits and vegetables. We are the only species that drinks other mammals' milk. It's ridiculous to think about it as healthy, especially the "enriched" industrial crap. In its undiluted form, cow milk is not good even for human infants, which should be the target population.

I can't think of much that comes in liquid form and is healthy, beyond water. There is a reason mother Nature packages everything with fiber.

It's not enriched food that makes kids healthy. It's playing outside in the sun, a lot, in a non-sterile dirty environment (e.g. a farm), and eating fruits and vegetables. If it's made in a factory, it's not healthy.

To get the recommended daily amount in kids, they have to either eat an impressive amount of fruits/veggies or a small amount of certain vegetables that even few adults like. The highest calcium content is in collard greens, and it takes 3 full cooked cups to get a toddler enough calcium for the day. We could also do 50 figs, 20 cups of blackberries, 1.5 full broccoli heads (or whatever you call them), or 12 oranges.

Or we could do 20 ounces of milk (I actually go a combination with my kids - 8 ounces of milk/day with lots of fruits and veggies). And undiluted milk is fine so long as its pasteurized. That's the only reason raw milk isn't recommended.

You're absolutely right on the Vitamin D (and honestly most of what you said, in an ideal world), but most kids don't get enough sunshine. Or if they do, it doesn't count since they're slathered in sunscreen like my redhead daughter. Your way would be great in an ideal world, but barring that we do/recommend the best we can.

 

[deleted171991]

The recommended calcium intake is around 1 g/day. That's about 2 cups of tofu. Just kidding.

I know how tough it is to make children eat a healthy diet and, honestly, milk is the lesser evil. It just drives me crazy to see where the Western world is going. We have so much obesity, and nobody does anything about it. I would fine or send to prison the parents of the obese kids. It's unbelievable that one in five school aged kids is obese (i.e. above the 95th percentile for BMI). One of the reasons is the crappy industrial diet, the other is the overprotection which prevents children from getting 5+ daily hours of unsupervised playtime outside with other kids. You cannot let your child play outside unsupervised, as much healthier kids do in developing countries, without getting social services called on you. It's no surprise the healthiest children grow up on farms.

 

[dhb]

I can't think of much that comes in liquid form and is healthy, beyond water

Go tell that to the Masai sheperds that go for 3 years on just milk and cow's blood.
Milk is probably the only substance you can survive on exclusively for a long period of time.