My Sedation Dentistry

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There is no real mystery to how sedation dentistry works. It is not quite the same as anesthetic injections. It involves three different degrees of depressing the central nervous system and can range from minimal to moderate to deep sedation.

When sedation dentists administer minimal sedation, the patient has reduced anxiety, but can still respond verbally and physically to his surroundings. In moderate sedation, the patient is even more relaxed, but will respond only to a larger stimulus in his environment. In deep sedation, the patient usually does not who any signs of consciousness and is not responsive to anything going on in his local environment. Oral sedation dentistry offers the flexibility of all three sedation states, depending on the level of anxiety of the patient.

What usually happens is a dentist will give a patient a prescription for a sedative to be taken the night before the procedure is scheduled. The sedative serves two purposes: 1) It helps the patient to get a good sleep during the night, and 2) it ensures the patient will wake up relaxed for the procedure. This is considered a no-needle approach. The patient can either take whole pills or allow the dentist to give the pills to him sublingually (under the tongue). Drugs taken sublingually in sedative dentistry get to the bloodstream much quicker.

Dentists who administer the meds used during conscious sedation dentistry have usually already measured the safety of these drugs on the therapeutic index. The larger the med measures on the scale, the safer it is. Because some of the meds make you remember little after you take them, they are sometimes lumped into a category called “comfort dentistry” or “relaxation dentistry.” The terms are meant to describe how patients feel after taking the meds: free of fear and quite relaxed.

Sedation in dentistry requires that a dentist knows which drug is appropriate for weight, height and level of anxiety. Some of the drugs a patient will take are given after he arrives for the procedure and after he has taken the sedative pill the night before. Those drugs might include laughing gas (also call nitrous oxide), valium, Ativan, Sonata and a few others. They take a while to wear off after the procedure, so the patient may need someone to drive him home. The patient may also experience an amnesic side effect and not remember much, but memory does return.

Sedation dentistry has become a safe, viable alternative to patients who cannot overcome the fears they have of dental procedures. Even IV sedation dentistry (meds injected directly into the bloodstream) offers hope for extreme cases of anxiety. The entire process seems to rest squarely on a single belief: fear and anxiety are conquerable. After the fear is gone, pretty smiles are more than possible.

There are many benefits of sedation dentistry. The most common one that comes to mind is that it offers a healthy solution for the many American adults (about 30 percent of the population) who are afraid of needles. Conscious sedation dentistry assists this segment of the population in actively engaging in their own dental health – a health priority that might otherwise go ignored.

The immediate benefits are the minimization of anxiety. Sedation dentists have to be almost as skilled in the psychology of patients as they are in the knowledge of dental science in order to be able to deal with anxiety. They must be able to recognize both the visible physical signs of this disorder (nausea, fatigue, insomnia, trembling, tense muscles, headaches, sweating, frequent urination, jumpiness) as well as some of the psychological signs (unrealistic views of the circumstances, excessive worry, difficulty concentrating). Keeping all of these symptoms at a minimal level of expression can ensure that the dentist has the freedom to focus only on dental work.

Sedation in dentistry is also very helpful for minimizing movement. One of the most difficult circumstances to navigate for a dentist is a “moving” patient. In children, this is to be expected, and dentists are usually prepared with some counter measures before having to resort to deep sedation practices. In adults, however, it is a much larger task to control movement. Adults cannot be lulled into believing “against” pain or distracted with the niceties of toys or artwork in the room. Sometimes, in order to control adults, it is important to use all the tools of oral sedation dentistry to get the job done.

One of the most common anti-anxiety drugs are: nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas.” It completely relaxes the patient and is used in combination with a local anesthetic, since it does not manage pain. In cases of moderate or extreme anxiety, some doctors must use IV sedation dentistry, in which the medicine is administered directly into the bloodstream of the patient. The dentist must monitor heart rate, blood pressure and breathing if IV sedation is used.

Sedation dentistry has allowed many patients who would not otherwise have made good on dental appointments to come out of hiding. Dentists and patients alike can be thankful that the wonders of sedative dentistry have been available to them in order to ensure good dental work. For the dentist, it comes down to sound dental practice and fostering good dental health. For the patient, it is all about a good, healthy smile.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to sleep through your next dental appointment? Sedation dentistry might make that possible. This process in the dental field is a way for sedation dentists to calm the fears of patients who are afraid of needles, afraid of other aspects of dentistry, or experience overwhelming anxiety around the idea of receiving dental or medical treatment.

Dentists give patients a sedative the night before a procedure and then follow that up with more sedative drugs on the day of the procedure. The patients are awake but not completely responsive during the procedure. Conscious sedation dentistry gives them the freedom of being unaware of their own fears but cognizant of some things going on around them. In the Middle Ages and 18th century, this luxury was not available to patients. They endured harsh procedures like bloodletting or tooth extraction without anesthesia – until early practitioners like Connecticut dentist Horace Wells began using laughing gas with his patients in the mid-19th century. Thankfully, oral sedation dentistry and dental medicine have evolved to give patients options not previously available to them.

Currently, the dental industry seems to be focused on tooth appearance rather than pain management. In the last decade, the world has seen the introduction of home tooth whitening systems, making it easier for the average person to take care of the appearance of his teeth. It is important to note, however, that a good appearance does not always indicate a healthy set of teeth. Dentists are just as necessary now as they have been over centuries, and sedation in dentistry plays a vital role in dentists being able to perform their jobs.

If you are a patient who dreams of being able to walk into the office of a dentist without quaking through a procedure, sedative dentistry has created ways for you to manage your fear. You can opt for minimal, moderate or deep sedation during your procedure. Each level of sedation triggers different states of awareness. Obviously, in deep sedation, you are aware of very little and probably will not remember much of the procedure when it is done. In some extreme anxiety cases, it becomes necessary to use IV sedation dentistry and ensure the patient is calmed quickly and sometimes unconscious. You and your dentist will always team to decide which sedation process is best for you.

Sedation dentistry takes the focus off needles and other things that might trigger phobias. You can relax and simply think about how much healthier you mouth is when you are done. Perhaps it is best to think about this in terms of having a long dream that you cannot remember. When you awake, you are in a world in which you smile a little bit brighter than before.