ORAL SEDATION DENTISTRY

• Anyone who has fear and anxiety about dental treatment may be a candidate.
• Anyone who wants to get a significant amount of dental work done in one visit may be a candidate.
• Anyone who has a strong gag reflex or has put off dental care for years because of dental anxieties or certain medical conditions may be a candidate

• Multiple procedures can often be efficiently performed in one appointment
• Anxiety and pain are safely eliminated

Oral sedation is not general anesthesia. You will take medication prior to the dental procedure, and upon arrival your sedation level will be assessed. Treatment will begin when adequate sedation is achieved. You will be very sleepy and relaxed. Oral sedation allows patients to be responsive and able to verbalize needs and wants. The sedatives are amnesiacs; therefore, you will have little or no memory of the experience. Vital signs will be continuously monitored for your safety. You must have a driver to and from the appointment, and plan on resting for the remainder of the day.

• A safe dosage for you may not provide adequate sedation and your procedure may be postponed,
  or your treatment may be performed with less sedation than desired.
• Unusual reaction to the sedative drugs such as altered mental states, physical reactions, allergic reactions, and other conditions that may require emergency medical attention.
• Inability to discuss treatment options with the doctor should unusual circumstance requires a change in treatment plan.

• No sedation: The treatment is performed under local anesthetic with you fully aware.
•  Nitrous oxide sedation: Commonly called laughing gas, nitrous oxide provides relaxation but you will still generally be aware of surrounding activities. Its effects can be reversed quickly with oxygen.
• Intravenous (I.V.) conscious sedation: The dentist or anesthesiologist injects the sedative in a tube connected to a vein in your arm to put you in a minimally to moderately depressed level of consciousness.
• General anesthesia: Also called deep sedation, a patient under general anesthetic has no awareness and may need their breathing supported by intubation, [ a tube placed into the trachea to maintain the airway].