Special Needs

Special Needs Dentistry Featured image

Our team knows that the needs of our patients are as varied and unique as their smiles. If your child requires a special needs dentist, for the following, but not limited to:

You can rest assured that they’re in great hands at Acorn Dentistry For Kids. Your child will benefit from our compassionate nature and extensive experience working with special needs children.

Tailored Dental Treatments

It’s not unusual for a child to be nervous before their appointment. When medical, behavioral, or developmental concerns are also a part of your child’s life, a visit to any new place can be intimidating.

At our Oregon locations, we customize your child’s treatment and appointment to meet their comfort level and needs. Does your child need several short appointments instead of one regular visit? We can do that! Is your child anxious? We offer 3 different sedation options to help them relax:

  • Oral, conscious sedation helps take the anxious edge off, for a more peaceful treatment. It acts quickly, and because it’s administered orally, we can tailor it to your child’s needs.
  • Nitrous gas, also known as laughing gas, is administered through a soft nose piece, to help your child relax and float on the edge of calm awareness. Many patients find the warm, floaty sensation soothing and the effects wear off within minutes, once the treatment is completed.
  • Intravenous sedation is also available from the convenience of our practice. Safely administered, your child can nap through their dental therapy, and wake up to a healthier smile.

Even if your child’s first visit just needs to be a “happy visit” tour of the clinic, we’re happy to do that!

Child Friendly Vocabulary

As a pediatric practice, we use child-friendly words to describe what we do. For example, we do not use four-letter words (such as hurt, pain, pull and shot). Please support us in making this experience fun by not going into detail with young children and allowing us to explain in ways that keep anxiety to a minimum. Some examples of the terminology we use:

We Do NOT Use:

  • Shot
  • Drill
  • Pull the tooth
  • Hurt

We Do Use:

  • Squirt the sleepy juice
  • Tickle the sugar bugs
  • Do a tooth dance or wiggle the tooth
  • Feels weird/different

We Listen To You

Our goal is to help every child enjoy a healthy, beautiful smile – for life. Nobody knows your child like you do. That’s why we work closely with you, to co-plan your child’s appointment and any needed dental treatment. After all, you know best how to help your child feel relaxed, how to coax them into the dental chair, and work with us as we polish their teeth.

When it comes to caring for your child’s smile, we’re all ears! Please let us know if you have any concerns or suggestions regarding your child’s visit. Call today to schedule your child’s same-day appointment.

Get your child’s smile off to a great start, by protecting their teeth with professional, preventive dentistry services.

Sedation Options

Receiving dental treatments can be a nerve-wracking experience for some children, which is why we offer sedation dentistry options at Acorn Dentistry for Kids.

Share this post