After the death of two children during a dental procedure, the safety of dentist and oral surgeons administering anesthesia to their patients has come into question. Since the suspected cause of the fatalities was anesthesia related.
“The educational and training requirements to administer sedation and anesthesia are regulated by individual state dental boards,” said Joel M. Weaver, DDS, PhD, a spokesman for the American Dental Association (ADA) and emeritus professor at the Ohio State University, in Columbus.
Much of the problem lies when the single provider handles both the procedure and the anesthesia itself.
In a recent case, a 6 year old boy named Caleb, went to an oral surgeon to have a tooth removed. The oral surgeon who performed the procedure also administered the anesthesia. The boys’ parents believe the anesthesia was the case of his death.
“As a result, the family reached out to their state assemblyman, Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond), who produced a bill—known as Caleb’s Law—that required notifying parents before their child’s oral surgery that there is a greater risk for death when the same oral surgeon performs both surgery and anesthesia. In a statement to Anesthesiology News, the father, Tim Sears, said: “When parents make decisions about anesthesia risks they conflate the more safe practice of medical anesthesiologists with the practice of having an oral surgeon operating as a single operator-anesthetist. The risks vary and parents should know that. I only wish we had known that,” reports Anesthesiology News.
Having anesthesia in the office provided by a CRNA, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, will make the procedure safer, rather than having the dentist do both the anesthesia and procedure.
Safe sedation may become more challenged with special needs patients, seniors, pediatrics, and those with health complexities. Each person has a unique response to medication used for sedation. A licensed and qualified anesthesia professional in the office focuses only on the patient safety, vigilance, and monitoring.
At Blue Sky Solutions are expectations are high and yours should be too when choosing to have sedation for your dental procedure. You deserve to have individual attention and an experienced nurse anesthetist providing your sedation whose only concern is monitoring you or your loved one.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact, Dwayne Thibeault MSN, ARNP, CRNA
