Sedation
Welcome to Discover Smiles!
Many dental procedures in children are completed using local anesthesia. However, some very young fearful children may need some additional support, such as a sedation, to cope with the dental treatment.
What is Sedation?
During this procedure, your child is put to sleep with an anesthetic gas first and, while they are sedated, medication is given intravenously by inserting a needle through the vein. For more on this procedure, please click here for a sedation tour.
We closely partner with Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates where a board-certified pediatric dental anesthesiologist comes to our office and administers the sedation while our board-certified pediatric dentists complete dental procedures on your child. Patient safety is a priority. Please check out the sedation tour to learn how we prioritize safety for your child.
Meet our Pediatric Dental Anesthesiologists
MARIA DEL CARMEN FORREST, MD, MBA
Dr. Forrest is a Harvard-trained, board-certified pediatric anesthesiologist. She received her medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine and has a master‘s degree in business from Northeastern University. Dr. Forrest completed her pediatric anesthesia fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and has served as the Co-Medical Director for Anesthesia and Director of Pediatric Anesthesia at William Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, MI. At Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami, FL, she served as the Director of Pediatric Anesthesia.
Dr. Forrest has cared for children for over the last 10 years and thinks of each child as her own. She has worked for nearly seven years at William Beaumont Children’s Hospital, which is nationally recognized as one of America’s Best Hospitals by the U.S. News & World Report. It was there that she recognized the need for office-based anesthesia care for young children in the area and is excited to be providing this specialized service through PDAA.
Dr. Forrest resides in Bloomfield Hills, MI, with her three daughters and spends her free time with her wonderful family. She also loves training for triathlons and competes twice a year in local races.
SARAH PATTERSON, MD
Dr. Patterson was born and raised in West Michigan. In 2006, she received her medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in southern California. She returned to Michigan for one year to complete her internship at Michigan State University’s Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies. From there, she traveled to Portland, ME, to complete her anesthesia residency in 2010 at Maine Medical Center. She further specialized in pediatric anesthesiology by completing a fellowship at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2011.
After finishing her fellowship, Dr. Patterson returned to Michigan where she spent over 10 years as an Attending Pediatric Anesthesiologist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids. Dr. Patterson is board certified in both anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology.
Dr. Patterson finds working with children and their families to be one of the greatest privileges and highlights of her career. She is excited to join Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates where she can bring her extensive experience taking care of pediatric patients to dental offices. She looks forward to providing a safe and calming experience for pediatric dental patients and their families.
Dr. Patterson enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and spoiled puppy. As a family, they love traveling, hiking, skiing, and water-sport activities.