I'm currently going through a root canal (similar to what your daughter needs).
There's no way IN HELL I'd put either of my kids through this without anaesthetic. I just wouldn't. And the needles are often more scary (ie locals) than a GA/sedation.
My youngest had sedation for five stitches in his arm and I'd definitely knock him out if we had to do it again.
About 9 months ago DS who was 3 at the time had to have dental surgery under a general anathetic.
He had one molar pulled out and 3 fillings put in his other teeth.
It went absolutly perfectly and he is still a lover of the dentist. We even had to go back to get his spacer put in and there were no problems getting him there.
DS is also quite a sensitive child and remembers everything.
Having had a horrible experience as a child at the dentist my parents could not get me to go back without panic attacks and absolute fear. I agree with Divvy and would not want him to go through what he did without the general.
I would absolutly ask another opinion though and then decide the best for your DD!
I used to do dental surgery at the kids hossy in Sydney. I always thought that would be the way I would go if my kids needed it. Better that they can't remember IMO.
However, recently my 6yo needed a pulpotomy. We have paedi dentists here in schools. She had it done in the chair. Not once did she flinch or complain of any pain at all. But, she's 6 has a good attention span and could understand the explanations and instructions.
My DD started having pretty extensive (and expensive) dental surgery at 4.5years old. She has had 2 root cannal therapy and 4 fillings in the past 9months awake in the dental chair. Our dentist is fantastic and I do have one very brave girl. She went to see him because of a tooth ache and it turned out he couldn't fix the tooth with just a filling. He did to start with but she still had pain so he tooth the nerves and blood supply out and put antibiotics into it and a temporary filling in. It took 3 visits to fix that tooth. He said it wasn't a tooth she could loose as she already had permanent molars behind it and if it came out the permanent teeth would move forward and when the front teeth came through she would have a crowding problem. It turned out DD had to have the same thing on the other side due to a recurrent abcess.
Originally he said he would trial her and see how she coped depending on how she reacted if she would need a general. He was pretty confident DD was mature enough to cope just fine. He said it really wasnt an option to have the tooth removed. Once she was a little teary (after the 3rd time I sat in the waiting room) She came out a little teary as she had some local by a needle which was the first time. He always used a local gel but just the thought of the needle frightened her I don't think it hurt at all.
On her final visit DD wanted to write a love letter to the dentist thanking him for fixing her teeth and to tell him she loved him (I wouldnt let her) She definately was not traumatised. The dentist kept it short and sweet almost everytime. She had approx 8 visits all up over a number of months. I never had any issues getting her to go to the dentist. I'm really pleased she didn't need a general. I'd get a second opinion if your not happy with what your dentist advised.
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