2yo having a GA for an extraction

[Amused]

Hi :wave:

DS is 2yrs 8m old and he has to have his front tooth pulled. He chipped it pretty bad back in April and it has turned brown and he now has a absess on his gum. The Paed dentist has recommended we knock him out and pull the tooth or else it will cause more problems.

Has anyone else had a young child who has had a general anasthetic and an extraction? How did they go with the GA? How did they recover from the extraction? Was it bad?

TBH I am so very scared. I don't want to go through with it even though I know it is for the best. Just looking for some advice really.

TIA

[KaM]

I am having a similar issue soon so will keep my eye on this thread!

[NibbleCurlynBub]

My DS had a GA to repair a big gash on his eyebrow/eyelid when he was only about 16/17 months old.

It was really awful putting him to sleep.. He didn't struggle or anything just pressed his cheek into me and fell asleep. He went VERY limp very quickly and it was just so heartbreaking.

I lay him on the bed, was allowed a quick snuggle and then was taken out.

Met him in the empty ward when he woke up and I carried him from that bed down to the proper recovery room.. Where I just held him for a while. When I was called in he was BARELY awake so they had come and gotten me at first sight of awake-ness, which I definitely appreciated.

For a while he was just very quiet and snuggly and didn't try to move or talk but after a while he sat up and looked around a little and when the nurse brought out apple juice he drank that down surprisingly quickly and she said that once he had had 2 cups of it, she would take the IV lock out (since it had been locked and wasn't connected) so she did and that was that. :)

While it was a really upsetting day for ME, I don't think he was at all bothred by going to sleep or by waking up and he wasn't upset by the IV line like I expected he would be.
So really, he wasn't too fussed.

[mim1]

My ds had a GA at 15 months to have grommets inserted - which probably takes longer than having a tooth extracted I think (although he was only under for 30 minutes).

I was there when they put him to sleep (with a strawberry scented face mask) and it was quite uneventful. They called me as soon as he woke up and he was upset when I got there, but more just hungry I think because as soon as he'd had a bottle he was fine. He was snuggly and quiet for probably 20 minutes, then he was pretty much back to his usual self. We left 90 minutes later, but he was ready to go an hour later, we just had to wait for the doctor. He'd walked around by then, eaten vegemite toast, played with his new toys (got him some to celebrate the day) and he was fine.

The whole day was pretty uneventful really, but as Nibble said it was pretty rough personally, but for my ds I don't think he found it hard at all.

[KaM]

The tooth extraction is going to have some pain associated with it for a few days . . same as when you get your own tooth out .

[~Emmylou~]

My DD had a general when she was two for some dental work. I was also able to go in the theatre with her and hold her while they put her under. That part was probably the hardest because she got into theatre and freaked out a bit at all the equipment and people with facemasks...I think they gave her an oral sedative before that though and they didn't muck around getting her under once she got in there.

She coped with the whole thing really well - she had the op early in the morning, by lunch time she was at home sitting up to ice cream :)

The extraction will probably hurt a bit but you'll be suprised at how well he'll heal - young ones tend to repair wounds very quickly compared to adults.

A few years back I had a molar extracted and I stressed for weeks and weeks about how bad it was going to be - I ended up having two panadol after it and by the next morning I didn't need any more pain relief and it was all good.

He'll be ok good luck :)

[CJandMum]

I can help with this. None of my children have had GA's but I am a nurse who does have many children come through the operating doors to have this done. I work in the recovery room where I see them post-operatively. Most children do really well. Very rarely do we have complications from this procedure due to the fact that they are only under for a very very short period of time. They will just pull the tooth and put a stitch in the gums, and then they are done. They are rolled into recovery, where you will be able to see him when he wakes up. Sometimes the parents are more trouble than the children...lol. Not saying you will be but the kids bounce back very quickly.
Where is your ds having the procedure?

[Amused]

Thanks for all the replies, part of me is more worried about myself :o I really appreciate the detail that you ladies have gone into. I'm so emotional about the whole thing (silly preggo hormones!!) but feel to be informed is the best approach!

CJandMum - thanks for your info, DS is having the procedure at City West, I think it is attached or next door to Westmead hospital (NSW).

Wow EmmyLou, icecream by lunch! What a quick turn around!!!! The dentist did say that she would do DS first up so hopefully we will have an outcome like yours! :fingerscrossed:

Min1 - hopefully DS wakes snuggly, he doesn't generally wake up well so I guess we'll see on the day.

NCB - I'm not sure how I will cope with him going limp in my arms, and YES... it is all about me :laughing: He is my world and with the journey we are on, this just feels like it is too much.

Thanks again ladies, I really do appreciate the advice. His surgery isn't til 2nd Feb, so I'm not sure if it is a good thing that we have that much time to prepare :rolleyes:

[Hollywood]

I just went through this exact thing right before NYE with our 23 month old. On the 29th Dec DS was running through a shop and tripped on a tiled floor, managing to fracture one front tooth.

To cut a long story short, he ended up needing it out, so on the 30th we were referred to the Royal Children's Hospital here in Melbourne and he was given a GA to have the tooth pulled out.

I was a blubbering mess as they put him under GA, but that was just because it was all a bit daunting to see my little boy being sedated. He was in good hands though, and I had full confidence in the paediatric dentist and the anaethetists, they did a great job.

I am just glad that he will have no memory of the extraction as I didn't want him to be scared of dentists for the rest of his life. The dentist at the Dental Hospital where we first went was prepared to pull his tooth out with just a local anaesthetic, but I said no for obvious reasons (way to make a kid permanently terrified of dentists :rolleyes:)

Your LO will be just fine, it's all over very quickly and kids recover well from GA's. We were able to take DS home just 2 hours after the procedure and he was literally running around the ward half an our after getting out of recovery.

[NibbleCurlynBub]

NCB - I'm not sure how I will cope with him going limp in my arms, and YES... it is all about me :laughing: He is my world and with the journey we are on, this just feels like it is too much.
Honestly, you will probably cry.

I only just managed not to.. But my goodness I was so distraught about leaving him. I didn't want to, not at all.

The time will drag too.. DS was only under for about an hour, because what they needed to do was very minor.. But it was agony.
I could've sworn I'd been there for DAYS.

Take a puzzle book, like Take 5 or something.
One of those ones that don't really take a lot of effort to do but will pass the time a little.

Your little one will probably be more than fine though, like I said.. It was a lot more upsetting for me than it was for him.

He also had a strawberry scented mask.. I still have it. :o

[Hollywood]

Oh, and if it's just a simple extraction like with my DS, he might be in and out in a really short time.

DS was only under for 10 to 15 minutes and I was there when he woke up fully, and breastfed him lying down on the bed in recovery. Poor little guy hadn't had a thing to eat or drink for 8 hours because of the fasting for the GA, he was so thirsty and his lips were drying out from dehydration :(

But like I said, he handled it so well (better than me :o and DH), he was such a little trooper.

[purtig]

DS2 (just turned 2) had a general last week after he swallowed a 5 cent coin and had to have it removed. Holding him while he went limp was awful and I cried afterwards - he went from screaming to limp and still in about 3 seconds. After that it was fine though. When I was taken to him in recovery he was sitting up on the trolley/bed thing trying to stop the nurse from checking his oxygen levels! Once we went up to the ward he mainly rested for a little bit but then was up and moving around. Around 2 hours after his operation he was runing down the hallway ducking into rooms and hiding from me!

[prideNJoy]

DD has been under a GA before, she was 7 months at the time though, and it was for eye surgery.
She was fine, little trooper's they are!

As for DS, he may need a tooth extraction ! :rolleyes:
He had a bad fall on tiles a few months ago and did a grand job of chipping both his front teeth, he then had another fall about a week ago and has chipped a bit more off one of the front teeth.
I've since found what i thought to be an abcsess on his gum above that tooth.

Took him to the dentist today and she confirmed my thought's. :hair:

So now we've been told to wait and see if the teeth go black, start to hurt him, or are sore to touch...and if that happen's then we'll have to look at pulling them.
:fingerscrossed: It doesn't come to that.


Anyone know if abcsess's go away by themselves, without treatment???

[KaM]

Im pretty sure you need anti-biotics or something to clear up an abscess since its an infection . .

[belle27]

My sister went under GA for tooth extraction, and she was nearly 3. This was a good 25 or 30 years ago though.

She found it easy to hold her hand as she went under because she was a nurse often working in the OR.

[prideNJoy]

Im pretty sure you need anti-biotics or something to clear up an abscess since its an infection . .

That was my understanding too, but then the dentist said "come back in six month's time if it hasn't gone away, and we'll take it from there" :confused: So basically if it hasn't discoloured or caused any pain it's OK?

I think a Dr.'s trip is in order!