Sedation Dentistry Options For Kids In Dacono, CO

Mini Miners offers all three levels of children's sedation, nitrous oxide, oral conscious sedation, and general anesthesia, under one roof, with a dedicated anesthesiologist on site for general anesthesia. Our office sits in Erie, 9 miles from Dacono, about a 17-minute drive up CO-52.1

Most offices near Dacono send families elsewhere for at least one level of sedation, or ask the treating dentist to run the anesthesia and the dental work at the same time. We don't. A pediatric dentist focuses on your child's teeth while a separate anesthesiologist watches the sleep. Two sets of trained hands, one appointment.

The three levels at a glance

Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)

What it is: A gas mixed with oxygen and breathed through a scented mask.
Who provides it: The pediatric dentist and dental team.
Awareness: Your child stays awake, calm, and able to respond.
How quickly it works: About 5 minutes.
How long it lasts: Wears off within minutes. Most children can return to school the same day.
Best for: Mild nervousness and shorter dental visits.

Oral Conscious Sedation

What it is: Liquid medication, typically Versed and hydroxyzine, that your child swallows.
Who provides it: The pediatric dentist and dental team.
Awareness: Your child becomes drowsy and usually will not remember much of the visit.
How quickly it works: About 20–45 minutes.
How long it lasts: Effects may continue for several hours. Your child should rest at home for the remainder of the day.
Best for: Anxious children, longer visits, or situations where laughing gas is not enough.

General Anesthesia

What it is: Your child is placed fully asleep, usually with a mask followed by an IV.
Who provides it: A separate anesthesiologist monitors your child while the dentist completes the treatment.
Awareness: Your child is fully asleep and does not feel the procedure.
How quickly it works: Within minutes after the monitoring equipment is set up.
How long it lasts: Effects may continue for several hours. Your child should rest at home for the remainder of the day.
Best for: Very young children, children with special healthcare needs, or children who need extensive dental treatment.

Ask any Colorado dentist one question before they sedate a child under 12

Does the dentist hold Colorado's Pediatric Designation? Since a 2015 rule that the state most recently revised effective June 30, 2025, sedating a patient under 12 requires a separate pediatric designation on top of a regular anesthesia permit, it is not automatic. To earn and keep it, a dentist documents pediatric-specific sedation training (30 hours), supervised live pediatric cases (at least 10 of 20 total), and current PALS certification.

Mild sedation: nitrous oxide (laughing gas)

Nitrous oxide is the lightest option, and for most kids with everyday nerves, it's all they need. It's a colorless gas blended with oxygen. Your child breathes it through a mask and we scent that mask with a flavor they pick, like bubble gum or mango, so the whole thing feels like a game.

Your child stays awake and can talk to us the entire time. They'll feel light, a little giggly, maybe floaty. We keep them breathing through their nose and watching one of 70+ movies. When treatment ends, we switch the mask to pure oxygen, the effect clears in minutes, and your child goes back to school or play the same day. No lingering grogginess.

We reach for nitrous when a child has mild anxiety or needs a shorter procedure like a single filling. It's the option we start with whenever it's enough.

Moderate sedation: oral conscious sedation

When laughing gas isn't enough, oral sedation goes a step deeper without putting your child to sleep. We use a liquid combination of two medications, Versed and hydroxyzine. Your child swallows it, watches a movie, and over the next 20 to 45 minutes settles into a drowsy, relaxed state. They stay conscious and breathing on their own.

One thing surprises parents: Versed commonly blocks memory of the visit. Many kids simply don't recall the appointment afterward, which is often a relief for a child who was dreading it. The trade-off is time. The medication takes several hours to fully wear off, so your child rests at home under an adult's watch for the rest of the day, no school, no sports.

This level fits anxious children, longer treatment plans, or kids who couldn't get calm with nitrous alone.

Deep sedation: general anesthesia

For the youngest patients, children with special healthcare needs, or a mouthful of work in one sitting, general anesthesia lets your child sleep through it and feel nothing. This is where our two-provider model matters most.

A dedicated anesthesiologist, not the dentist, runs the anesthesia. Here's how a visit goes. The anesthesiologist checks your child's vitals before anything begins. Your child watches a movie and breathes in anesthesia through a mask. Once they're asleep, you wait in the waiting room while the anesthesiologist places an IV and monitors vitals continuously through the whole procedure. Your child is fully asleep and unaware. When it's done, we bring you into recovery before your child wakes, so the first voice they hear is yours. They'll be drowsy and often confused as they come around, that's normal. Plan on rest at home, an adult in the same room, for the remainder of the day.

We partner with two local anesthesiology practices for this: Mile High Anesthesia and Rocky Mountain Dental Anesthesia. Both bring anesthesia into our office so your child is treated in a familiar pediatric setting instead of a hospital.

How we keep sedation safe

Safety is the question behind every other question parents ask, so here's the direct answer. Pediatric dental sedation is safe when the provider is properly trained, the child is properly screened, and monitoring is continuous. Those three conditions are the whole game, and they're the ones we build around.

We follow the American Dental Association's sedation and anesthesia guidelines, which the ADA revised in April 2026 - its first full update in nearly a decade.6 Three of those updates change day-of care for kids:

Fasting on the 2-4-6 rule: no solid food for 6 hours before, breast milk up to 4 hours before, clear liquids up to 2 hours before.6 We give you exact cutoff times for your appointment.
BMI recorded as a baseline vital sign, with medication dosed to your child's weight, not estimated.6
Supplemental oxygen and continuous monitoring from moderate sedation through general anesthesia, including capnography (which tracks the CO2 your child breathes out) a Colorado requirement for these levels.

For general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist's only job is your child's airway, breathing, and vitals. That's the point of keeping anesthesia and dentistry in separate hands. Our sedation approach follows the joint guidance of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

When sedation isn't the right call

We turn sedation down more often than parents expect, and we'd rather tell you that up front. Not every child needs it, and no level is free of trade-offs. Being straight about that is part of doing this safely.

A cooperative child who needs one small filling usually does fine with a numbing gel and a movie, no sedation at all. Nitrous doesn't work for every child; some can't keep the mask on or don't respond, and that's not a failure, it just means we adjust. Oral sedation is unpredictable by nature, the same dose calms one child and barely touches another. And after deeper sedation, expect a rough hour or two: grogginess, wobbly balance, sometimes nausea or a short crying spell as your child wakes up confused. It passes.

If your child has certain medical conditions, airway concerns, or is fighting a cold the week of the appointment, we may postpone or route general anesthesia to a hospital setting instead. We'll always tell you why.

Getting your child ready

Once we choose a level together, we send instructions specific to your appointment, including:

Fasting times on the ADA 2-4-6 schedule, with your child's exact cutoff clock times
What to wear - loose, comfortable clothing
What to bring - a favorite stuffed animal or blanket
How to talk to your child about the visit so you don't hand them your own nerves

For nitrous, there's usually little to no fasting. For oral sedation and general anesthesia, fasting matters for safety, follow the times exactly, and call us if you slip up rather than guessing.

How we keep sedation safe

There's no default. We match the level to the child after weighing:

Age - younger children tolerate less and may need deeper sedation for the same work
Anxiety level and past dental experiences
How much treatment is needed, and whether it can be done in one visit
Medical history, airway, and any special healthcare needs

Kids with dental anxiety and special healthcare needs are a large part of who we treat, and often the reason a family drives from Dacono to reach an office that offers every level in one place.

Frequently asked questions

Is sedation dentistry safe for young children?

Yes, when the provider is trained for pediatric patients, your child is screened and fasted correctly, and monitoring is continuous. For general anesthesia, a dedicated anesthesiologist monitors your child's airway and vitals the entire time while the dentist works. We follow the ADA's 2026 sedation guidelines and joint AAPD/AAP pediatric guidance.

Will my child feel any pain?

No. Each level is chosen so your child is comfortable, relaxed and numb with nitrous, drowsy with oral sedation, and fully asleep and unaware with general anesthesia.

Can I stay with my child?

Yes for nitrous and oral sedation. For general anesthesia, you're with your child until they're asleep, wait nearby during treatment, and we bring you into recovery before they wake so yours is the first voice they hear.

How long until my child is back to normal?

Nitrous clears in minutes and kids return to school the same day. Oral sedation and general anesthesia take several hours to wear off, so plan a full rest day at home with an adult present.

Will my child remember the appointment?

Often not, with oral sedation, the Versed we use commonly blocks memory of the visit. Under general anesthesia, your child is fully asleep and won't remember it.

Does insurance or Medicaid cover sedation?

Private insurance often covers deeper sedation when there's documented medical need; nitrous is frequently treated as optional. Health First Colorado can cover sedation and general anesthesia for kids 0-20 with prior authorization and documented medical necessity. The general-anesthesia anesthesiologist bills separately and doesn't take insurance.