My 5 yr old son required a few dental fillings and Dr. So explained to me that most kids his age can do the fillings without laughing gas or being put under general anesthesia. However, since my son was a bit more apprehensive than other kids, he recommended the laughing gas/general anesthesia. We spoke to our son about it and convinced him to try the fillings without either. On the day of his appointment, he was nervous, but not uncooperative. I had already informed the office we wanted to try without the laughing gas. However, on the day of the appointment, they still tried to proceed with the laughing gas at the start of the appointment. When we told them again that we did not want the gas, you can tell they had a problem with this. Dr. So came in an placed a piece of gauze and jelly onto my son's mouth. My son moved just slightly b/c of the cold sensation. At that point, Dr. So decided to give up and refused to do the procedure without any laughing gas or anesthesia! He told us to go elsewhere and that there are dentists who strap children down to do the procedures. That was ridiculous!! We are not looking for someone to strap down our child and couldn't believe he recommended us to do that! He then said even adults have a hard time sitting still with fillings let alone a child, which is NOT what he originally said. He did not try to talk to my son or do his job in comforting him as a pediatric dentist in making sure the filling would go smoothly. We felt that he just wanted to put him under to make his job easier. My friend also had a similar experience in which Dr. So refused to do a filling without the laughing gas or placing the child under general anesthesia.
We then went to another pediatric dentist in the area and she was so much more comforting and understanding. On the day of his filling, she comforted him and reassured him which helped my son feel less nervous and she was successfully able to do the procedure without any laughing gas. She talked to him throughout the procedure telling him exactly what she was doing and it was like telling a story to a child. This made my son feel comfortable and develop a good trusting relationship with the dentist. This is how a pediatric dentist should be! (not someone that just tries to sedate a child to take the easy way out like Dr. So). I have 2 other boys and needless to say, we will NOT be going back to Dr. Eddie So. read more