Sedation Dentist–You Don’t Have to be Afraid of the Dentist Anymore!

Sedation is commonly given during dental procedures to keep the patient calm and relaxed. Sedatives are good option if the patient has dental phobia or anxiety problems. Sedatives make the patient drowsy and so effectively control anxiety and phobia problems. Not all dentists use sedatives. In the United States, only 6% of dentists use sedatives. This is because it takes additional training and experience to be able to administer sedatives effectively and perform dental procedures. For this reason, it can be difficult to find a sedation dentist.

What are sedatives?

Sedatives are chemical compounds that induce sleep in the patient. These work by acting directly on the central nervous system. Depending on the amount of sedatives administered, the patient can feel slightly drowsy or fall fully asleep. Sedatives are usually used to make the patient relaxed and anxiety free during various dental procedures.

There are four ways in which sedatives can be administered to the patient. These are:

• Oral sedatives: These are available in the form of a pill which has to be swallowed. Oral sedatives are given to patients who have fear of needles, where intravenous administration is not possible. Diazepam is a common oral sedative. Oral sedatives are usually given 30 minutes before the dental procedure. Local anesthesia is required.

• Intravenous sedatives: These are given via the vein. Intravenous sedatives are more commonly used when compared to other ways of sedation. Local anesthesia is still required.

• Inhalation: Nitrous oxide or laughing gas is the most popular sedative that is administered through the nose. Nitrous oxide doesn’t relieve pain, it only reduces anxiety. For this reason, an anesthetic is also administered locally in addition to nitrous oxide.

• General anesthesia: In this method, the patient is made unconscious by using an anesthetic agent. Unlike the other mentioned methods, the person will be completely unconscious and will not experience any pain. For this reason, no local anesthesia is required.

Depending on the amount of sedatives administered, the patient may experience slight sedation, conscious sedation, deep sedation or unconsciousness. The amount of sedatives to be given will be determined by the dentist. Certain procedures such as oral surgery require the patient to be unconscious while certain procedures can be performed under light sedation.