geberal aneasthetic dental surgery 6 year old..
8 answers /
Last post: 14/01/2024 at 2:12 am
hi, my son who is 6 is due to have a few teeth out next week under general anesthetic and i am terrified, i suffer with anxiety about most things but this is worrying me completely, is there anyone whos been through this who can help me get perspective and not so scared!
Hi Leyla
I'm Catherine, one of the Parent Supporters here at Netmums. It can feel very nerve wracking to have your child go through any kind of procedure so I'm sure many of our community will understand how you feel. Often when we are anxious, our thoughts can focus on all the things that may go wrong and the worst case scenarios. It can be very helpful to find ways to challenge these thoughts where possible - could you talk to the dentist or doctor who is doing the procedure and explain to them your worries? They may be able to put your mind at ease. MIND also have some really helpful suggestions for managing anxiety - I'll link it here : Self-care for anxiety - Mind
I've also asked for your post to be moved in our drop in clinic and hopefully there will be more support soon from our community. Please come back to us if you would like to chat some more.
Catherine
Hi Leyla
We've moved your thread into our drop-in clinic maternal mental health, so you can get the advice and support you need
I used to be the pre and post op nurse caring for children having dental surgery. Sadly there has been massive rise in children having dental surgery for decayed teeth and other issues. The nurses looking after your child will do their best to make the experience as calm and stress free as possible, but having said that, it is surgery. Your child is young and won't understand why lots of things are being done to them. They will need a cannula to administer the anesthetic drugs, this is a small tube inserted into a vein in the arm or hand via a needle. This may be done with numbing cream to lessen the discomfort. He may also be anaesthetised using gas via a face mask, so your child will have to lie on a trolley in the anaesthetic room while this happens, usually a parent can be present. There will be lots of unfamiliar staff involved but they are there to keep your child safe. After the surgery your child will wake in the post op recovery room and you will be called once he is waking and safe to be seen. He will probably be distressed as will feel very disorientated. His mouth will feel odd, as it will have been numbed to lessen the pain, but alot of children don't like the numb feeling. He may well bleed from where the teeth have been removed, try to keep him as calm as possible to help the bleeding stop. Sorry I can't say it'll be easy and pain free, it won't. Speak to the staff and they will advise you.
Hello lovely, couldn't just read and run. It's perfectly normal to be scared.
My son had his tonsils out when he was 4 and a bit. I've never been so terrified, but the staff in the hospital understood I as a parent was more scared than him and were a great support.
He took it in his stride, and was brilliant.
He's now 15 and not scared of hospital, anaesthetics or anything to do with doctors.
Hang in there 🤗🤗 you'll both be fine xx
Hiya my son had his tonsillectomy and adenoids removed when he was 2 and I cried when he was put to sleep but he come round amazing . He is nearly six and he has to have teeth removed and I'm feeling a lot more easier. But if your nerve of your son having needle . Op for the mask it's less stress on your son
I used to be the pre and post op nurse caring for children having dental surgery. Sadly there has been massive rise in children having dental surgery for decayed teeth and other issues. The nurses looking after your child will do their best to make the experience as calm and stress free as possible, but having said that, it is surgery. Your child is young and won't understand why lots of things are being done to them. They will need a cannula to administer the anesthetic drugs, this is a small tube inserted into a vein in the arm or hand via a needle. This may be done with numbing cream to lessen the discomfort. He may also be anaesthetised using gas via a face mask, so your child will have to lie on a trolley in the anaesthetic room while this happens, usually a parent can be present. There will be lots of unfamiliar staff involved but they are there to keep your child safe. After the surgery your child will wake in the post op recovery room and you will be called once he is waking and safe to be seen. He will probably be distressed as will feel very disorientated. His mouth will feel odd, as it will have been numbed to lessen the pain, but alot of children don't like the numb feeling. He may well bleed from where the teeth have been removed, try to keep him as calm as possible to help the bleeding stop. Sorry I can't say it'll be easy and pain free, it won't. Speak to the staff and they will advise you.
hi, thank you for reply , another thing im worried about is that my son gets recurrent croup and i have read that ga can affect his throat? he is being referred tk a eads nose & throat doctor currently to see for any abnormalities in his windpipe that might be the cause of the croup, will this lout him at any extra risk?
I used to be the pre and post op nurse caring for children having dental surgery. Sadly there has been massive rise in children having dental surgery for decayed teeth and other issues. The nurses looking after your child will do their best to make the experience as calm and stress free as possible, but having said that, it is surgery. Your child is young and won't understand why lots of things are being done to them. They will need a cannula to administer the anesthetic drugs, this is a small tube inserted into a vein in the arm or hand via a needle. This may be done with numbing cream to lessen the discomfort. He may also be anaesthetised using gas via a face mask, so your child will have to lie on a trolley in the anaesthetic room while this happens, usually a parent can be present. There will be lots of unfamiliar staff involved but they are there to keep your child safe. After the surgery your child will wake in the post op recovery room and you will be called once he is waking and safe to be seen. He will probably be distressed as will feel very disorientated. His mouth will feel odd, as it will have been numbed to lessen the pain, but alot of children don't like the numb feeling. He may well bleed from where the teeth have been removed, try to keep him as calm as possible to help the bleeding stop. Sorry I can't say it'll be easy and pain free, it won't. Speak to the staff and they will advise you.
Hi, I understand that you've worked in this area but my experience with my little lad at just turned age 7 was totally different (8 teeth out due to a very overcrowded mouth/ small jaw)
The staff were amazing. There was a play therapist who put the cream on Teddy first and she played with db putting a mask on etc and looking at things.
This didn't totally ease his anxiety but definitely helped.
I stayed with him until he was asleep- done quickly with no fuss and lots of reassurance.
When he woke up we walked down to meet him and then we walked back to the ward together. He was only a little groggy for about 15 min and although he was upset- mouth feeling funny, the bleeding etc, again the staff were superb.
The only 'problem' we had was that he bit his lip quite badly as it was numb so we had to stay quite a bit longer than the other children, but there was plenty of toys to keep him going.
Not all experiences are as terrible as you expect. My db has terrible anxieties and has always presented with challenging behaviours at school and home due to his diagnosis. But with the staffs expertise and reassurance from us he was amazing.
OP, I'm sure everyone's experiences are different but the more relaxed you can (pretend to) be for your lo, the better. It's not pleasant, but it can always be made less scary.
Wishing you well x
