Pediatric Oral Surgery and “Needle Free” Anesthesia

Drs. Mynsberge, Ruggles or Yang know there is nothing more precious or important to us than our children.  Finding out that your child may need surgery can be intimidating not only for your child, but also for you as a loving parent.

There are many reasons that your child may need to be seen at a young age for an oral surgery procedure, including:

• Extraction of teeth due to cavities, infection, or trauma
• Surgery in preparation for orthodontics
• Removal of tight bands of lip or tongue tissue (frenectomy)
• Treatment of pathology of the mouth, jaws, or face
• Repair of traumatic facial injuries, such as dental injuries, jaw fractures, and/or facial lacerations

Drs. Mynsberge and Ruggles trained at one of the largest and most well renowned pediatric hospitals in the country (Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, IN) and treat a very high number of pediatric patients at their private practice in Marin County, so they are extensively experienced in the most advanced surgical and anesthetic techniques needed to provide top level pediatric oral surgery care.

Needless to say, anesthesia itself can be intimidating for our young patients, as many children typically have an age appropriate fear of needles.  Fortunately, our office is equipped with anesthetic gas that can induce anesthesia without the use of a needle. With 5-10 deep breaths through our comfortable anesthesia mask, we can induce a state of anesthesia for our pediatric patients.  We then start an IV, which they do not remember, and maintain continued anesthesia intravenously the same way would normally do for our procedures.  This approach is safe, predictable, eliminates the need for less controllable oral premedication, hastens anesthesia recovery (due to the need for less IV sedative medication), and is the standard of care for anesthesia induction in pediatric hospital operating rooms nationwide.  This valuable equipment has greatly reduced the stress and anxiety experienced by our pediatric patients.  

Children are not just little patients.  Their needs and management are very unique and different from those of adults.  Even small procedures, such as a simple baby tooth removal, can be very intimidating and anxiety inducing, so Drs. Mynsberge, Ruggles or Yang treat each of their pediatric patients as though they were their own and prides themselves on making every child’s experience at our office easy and positive.

During your consultation appointment, Drs. Mynsberge, Ruggles or Yang will meet with you and your child to discuss the planned procedure and anesthesia options/recommendations.  For most children, some level of sedation may be the most beneficial type of anesthesia, even for simple procedures, in order to eliminate anxiety and promote positive and stress free future dental experiences at their pediatric dentist’s (and eventually adult dentist’s) office.