A Jungle of Smiles

Orange Coast Pediatric Dentistry was designed for the child in mind. Children enter into a jungle themed environment and are able to enjoy video games, children's magazines, and televisions in all the treatment areas. This atmosphere helps children relax and enjoy their dental experience.

Take the office tour to see for yourself.

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Research has shown that adult dental fears that inhibit patients from seeking treatment are often the result of an unpleasant experience with the dentist as a child. Our goal is not to complete treatment at any costs, but to help your child become an adult who routinely and comfortably seeks dental care. This often requires extra time with your child, distraction through many of our child friendly amenities, or in some cases the use of appropriate sedatives. It is very important to discuss with Dr. Mathias any bad experiences or fears your child may have in order to provide the best possible care for your child.

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Nitrous Oxide

Dr. Mathias offers Nitrous oxide sedation (laughing gas) for the slightly anxious child. Nitrous oxide helps a child who is cooperative but worried about various aspects of their appointment. It helps make the injections less noticeable and helps to alleviate anxiety about having instruments placed in the mouth, and with the noises that they make. It is important to realize that nitrous oxide requires a certain amount of cooperation from the child, they are required to have a plastic nose piece placed over their nose and breath through their nose. Nitrous oxide is not effective in children who are too young or too anxious to sit in the chair and have the nose piece placed on their nose.

Nitrous oxide is an extremely safe sedation alternative. When your child is breathing nitrous oxide they are receiving more oxygen then they are getting in room air!

When the mask is placed on the child's nose, it will take 1-5 minutes for the effects to be seen. Some children are very dissociated, as if they are unable to talk, while others become very comfortable and may giggle or tell stories. Occasionally a child will fall asleep, but typically your child will be awake for the entire procedure. After treatment is complete, the nitrous gas is turned off and your child will breath 100% oxygen for a few minutes to clear the nitrous from their system. This helps to alleviate dizziness. Your child will then be placed in a seated position for a few minutes to be sure they are not dizzy, and released. Some children appear as if they have just woken from a nap for about 30 minutes. This is normal and will subside shortly. Some children begin crying or become agitated once the nitrous has been turned off, because the anti anxiety effects of the gas have been removed.

IV Sedation

IV sedation is a procedure that allows treatment to be completed on children who are unable to accept dental treatment while conscious.

Dr. Mathias works with a highly accredited dental anesthesiologist for children who require IV sedation (sleep dentistry) in order to complete their treatment. IV sedation is also a very safe procedure for healthy children. However, more risks are associated with this procedure, thus it is important to have a frank discussion with Dr. Mathias about your child's health history prior to the appointment.

The day of your child's appointment your child will arrive in our office on an empty stomach. The anesthesiologist will review your child's health and treatment needs. The anesthesiologist will then give your child an injection of ketamine in the arm. This is all your child will remember about this appointment, and some children do not even remember the shot because of the amnesic properties of the medication. This will relax your child in about 10 minutes. Your child will then have an IV placed, and the anesthesiologist will sedate them in order for the dentist to begin treatment. If it was not possible to obtain xrays previously, xrays will be taken and an assistant will advise you of the results and review any changes in the treatment plan. After dental treatment is complete the anesthesia will be reversed and your child will begin to wake up. Some children are very sleepy when they wake up, some cry and are agitated and some get the shivers. Remember, your child has a lot of medication in their system and are very confused while waking up. Your anesthesiologist will give you post operative care instructions and will allow you to go home when your child is alert enough. Please visit the treatment-post op care section of this website if you are having trouble remembering the instructions. Do not hesitate to call our office if you have questions or concerns.

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Bleeding

Most of the bleeding should have subsided by the time you have left the office. It is important to keep pressure on the extraction area for about 1 hour after extraction. This can be done with the gauze provided when you left the office. If the site begins to bleed again, have the child bite on wet gauze or a tea bag for 20 minutes.

Swelling

Swelling after an extraction is most likely due to your child biting the area that was anesthetized without realizing it. Place ice bags around the area if it is the day of extraction, and warm compresses the days after. Call to make an appointment to evaluate the severity of the swelling. If the swelling is rapidly progressing call us as soon as possible.

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Discomfort after cementation

Expect some discomfort after a space maintainer is placed. They are similar to braces because they do not allow the teeth to move as much as they did before. The discomfort should resolve in 2-3 days. Children's Motrin and a soft diet during this time will help ease your child.

Came loose

If the appliance is very loose and can be easily removed from mouth, take appliance out and place in a safe place. If slightly loose, leave in mouth. Call for an appointment to have appliance re-cemented as soon as possible.

Teeth are coming in

If the adult teeth are starting to erupt where the prematurely lost baby tooth was please make an appointment to have your child evaluated for the removal of the space maintainer.

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Eating Before the appointment

Your child should have nothing to eat or drink 6 hours before the appointment. This is extremely important to the health and safety of your child.

Eating After the appointment

Start by giving your child water or apple juice after the appointment when they request it. Feeding your child to quickly, or feeding them heavy foods immediately after IV sedation will likely result in vomiting.

If your child can tolerate the apple juice, move to soft foods such as yogurt, pudding, etc. Gradually increase to normal foods as they are able to tolerate it.

Sleeping

Your child will likely go home and take a nap after IV sedation. This is normal. Place them on their side. Do not leave your child unattended, or place anything (such as gauze) in their mouth while they are sleeping.

Activity

It is best that your child rest for the remainder of the day. Watching videos at home is an excellent idea. Your child may resume normal activity the day after their appointment if they feel able. Some children may not feel up to normal play and may seem "hung over" from the medications. Encourage clear liquids to help clear the medication from their system.

Remember, your child is not as awake as they think they are, avoid swimming, biking, vigorous activity for the remainder of the day.

Oral hygiene

A fluoride varnish was placed on your child's teeth during the sedation. It is the orange colored material you see in their mouth. This will brush off, and the teeth will be back to their normal color. It is best to leave the varnish on overnight, so no brushing is needed the day of sedation. You can, and should, resume normal hygiene practices the day after sedation.

Please call our office or your anesthesiologist if you have any questions or concerns after your appointment. We know it is a stressful event for the parents and it is often difficult to remember all the instructions, so don't hesitate to call with questions or concerns.

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Pain

It is normal for your child to have some soreness in the area they had treatment done. Children's Tylenol or Motrin should alleviate the pain. If your child is still having difficulties after a day or two, please call the office for a follow up appointment. If the pain is severe, not alleviated by pain medications, or swelling occurs please call as soon as possible to discuss the situation with the doctor.

Swelling

If your child experiences swelling after treatment, it is likely due to lip biting in the anesthetized area. However, if you do not see teeth marks in the area and the swelling is increasing please call the office as soon as possible.

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Often children will bite themselves in the area they were anesthetized without realizing it. The area can become quite swollen and painful. Your child will need to remain on a soft diet until the area heals to avoid re-injuring themselves. Give Children's Motrin/Tylenol as needed for the pain.

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During your child's dental cleaning, fluoride was placed on the teeth to help strengthen the enamel. Fluoride is irritating to the stomach if swallowed. Your child may have swallowed a small amount of fluoride during their treatment. You may give your child a glass of milk to help neutralize the fluoride.

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