Judy Foreman

Nationally Sindicated Fitness, Health, and Medicine Columnist

  • HOME
  • Books
  • BIO
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
  • Q&A
  • PRESS
  • CONTACT

Q & A Search

Q & A Topics

Acupuncture Airplane Masks Alcohol Abuse Alcoholic Cooking Alexander Technique Allergies Anesthesia Antibiotics & Food Antidepressants Anxiety & Exercise Appetite & Sickness Arthritis Arthritis & Tendonitis Arthritis Surgery Artificial Sweeteners Aspirin & Airplanes Aspirin & Ibuprofen Asthma Inhalers Autism Baby Faces Back Pain Bad Breath Bad Shoes Balance & Age Bariatric Surgery Bed Wetting Beta Blockers Black Cohosh Body Fat Body Mass Index Body Odor Bogus Warnings Bone Density Botox Injections Bovine Hormones BP Machines Breast Cancer Breastfeeding & Cancer Broken Heart Burning Mouth Syndrome Burning Toast Butt Surgery Calcium Scan Cancer Risk Cancer Vaccine Cancer-Prone Personality Canker Sores Cellphones Chewing Gum Chewing Ice Children & Anesthesia Chinese Medicine Chiropractic Treatment Chlorine Chorus & Health Christmas Tree Allergy Clemens Treatments Clogged Sinuses Coenzyme Q10 Cold Cold Contagion Cold Medications and the Prostate Cold/Flu Colonoscopy Colonoscopy Risk Computer Use Constipation Contact Lenses Cosmetics Dark Circles Declining Fertility Dental X-rays Deodorant & Breast Cancer Diabetes & Feet Diet & Acid Balance Dietitian Disposable Contacts Diverticulitis Dogs or Cats Drug Information Ear Infections Ear Lobes Ear Wax Eating Broccoli Eating Protein Eggs Electric Shocks Electronic Records Emergency Room Emotions & Cancer Endometriosis Energy Drinks Estrogen & The Skin Estrogen Patches Ethics Consult Exercise & Appetite Exercise & Health Exercise & Stretching Expired Medicines Eye-color Facial Muscles Falling Asleep Feeling Cold Female Hair Loss Fertility Drug Clomid Fertility Monitors Fever Fighting Fever Fingernails First Aid Kits Fizzy Drinks Flat Feet Flu Vaccine Forehead Thermometers Free Radicals French Fries Frozen Chicken Gallblader Polyps Garlic Garlic Supplements General Anesthesia Grapefruit Juice Gray Hair Green Light Laser Therapy Green Tea Gregariousness Grilled Foods Group Therapy Growth Hormone Grumpiness Hair Relaxer Hand Sanitizers HDLs & LDLs Heading Hearing Loss Heart Cancer? Heart Disease Heart Problems Heart Rate & Exercise HIV Medication Home Thermostat Hospital Discharge Hospital Rash Humidifier Use Husbands Age & Birth Defects Hydrocephalus? Hyperactivity Ibuprofen Ibuprofen for Colds Inflammatory Breast Cancer Insomnia Interrupted sleep Iron Supplements Is Sedation Safe Itchy Feet Jogging & Smoking Joint Lubricants Keyboard/Bacteria Kidney Problems Kidney Stone Kidney Stones Kids Food Knuckles Lactose Intolerance Laser Surgery LASIK surgery Lead in Lunch Boxes Liposuction Liver Failure Local Honey Lose Fat Low Blood Pressure Low-Carb Diet Lung Cancer Lupus Macular Degeneration Magnets & Pain Mail Stool Samples Male Baldness Marathon Runners Medical Treatment Meditation Melanoma Self Test Menstrual Cramps Menstruation Suppression Mesotherapy Migraines and Breast Cancer MiniTransplant Miscarriage Moles Mononucleosis Morning or Evening Execise? Mosquito Repellent Mothball Fumes MSG Muscle Builder Muscle Pain Muscle Tears & Ibuprofen Nasal Steroids Newborns Hips Night Terrors Nosebleeds Oats are Great Open Biopsy Osteoporosis Osteoporosis Drug Pacifier Use Painkillers Pajamas vs. Clothes Pelvic Muscle Tear Penicillin Allergy Pets & Health Pets Colds & Flu Pilates Pins and Needles Plantar Fasciitis Poison Ivy Polio Prayer Books Preeclampsia Pressure Ulcers Probiotic Bacteria Probiotics Prostate Biopsy Prostate Cancer Protective Fabrics Psoriasis Red Wine Reflux/Endoscopy Restless Leg Resveratrol Retail Health Clinics Running & Knee Injury Running Nose Salt Schizophrenia Seasonal Affective Disorder Shingles Sleep Apnea Sleep Deprivation Sleeping Pills Smiling-Depression Sneezing Snow Shoveling Spleen Store Bought Glasses Strength Training Stretching Stroke Test Sudden Deafness Sugar Guidelines Sun Screens Sun-seeking Sunburn Sunglasses Sunscreens Swearing & Pain Swimming Tai Chi & Health Tanning Palors Teen Pregnancy Teenage Depression Teeth Grinding Thyroid Cancer Tight Clothes Tinnitus TMJ /TMD Toenail Fungus Toilet Seat Tongue Piercings Tonsils Toothbrush Toothbrushes Trampoline Treadmill Exercise Urinary Tract Infections Urination Varicose Veins Viagra Virtual Colonography Vitamin D Vodka Warts Weekly Workouts Weight Gain Weight Loss Weight Loss Surgery Wet Hair & Colds Whiten Teeth Yoga & Bone Density

Is sedation safe for kids undergoing dental procedures or medical tests like MRI?

March 12, 2007 by

Generally, yes. But better monitoring of children during these procedures is essential, as the death last fall of a 5-year-old Chicago girl following sedation for dental work shows.

Late last year, shortly after the girl’s death, two major groups, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, came out with joint guidelines that had long been in the works to make pediatric sedation safer.

The primary author of these, and previous, guidelines, Dr. Charles Cote, a pediatrician and anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that the new guidelines represent “a huge step in the right direction.” In part, he said, that’s because they make clear that medical personnel administering sedation to children should follow the same rules whether the procedure takes place in a hospital or in a private medical or dental office.

The guidelines do not have the force of law, but many states use the guidelines in creating laws governing practice.

Children often need drugs to reduce anxiety, provide pain relief, or reduce movement during normal dental procedures such as filling a cavity, and some medical tests, like MRIs. The problem, said Cote, is that a child may become more deeply sedated than the doctor or dentist intended and therefore must be monitored very carefully until fully awake.

The new guidelines make clear that the person doing the procedure must have “advanced airway training” (be able to clear an obstruction in a child’s airway and, if necessary, be able to pump air into a child’s lungs with a bag and mask) and use a pulse oximeter to check oxygen levels in the blood as well as other measures to make sure the child is breathing, said Dr. Stephen Wilson, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and chairman of the division of pediatric dentistry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Parents should ask their child’s dentist or doctor if he or she follows the new guidelines, which are available at www.aapd.org

Copyright © 2025 Judy Foreman