Most children are cooperative during dental treatment, despite occasional moments of anxiety.
Nevertheless, some children, especially the very young and fearful, may have difficulty cooperating for treatment at the dental office, and may benefit from behavior management techniques. One pharmacologic behavior management technique is conscious sedation. During interactive conscious sedation, a child can respond to verbal requests from the dentist, and keep the eyes open while being sedated. Conscious sedation is often provided because it may be the only way to provide dental care for children whose insurance companies refuse to pay for dental treatment under general anesthesia. It is unfortunate that less than half of all states reimburse dentists for general anesthesia if the child has no underlying medical conditions.