Many people feel enough anxiety in the dentist’s chair that they avoid or skip visits, even when they need treatment for a serious dental condition.
Dentists can help patients feel at ease by offering sedation dentistry as a way to relax during care.
If you are unfamiliar with this approach, you might wonder what sedation dentistry is and how safe it is.
This article explains the levels and types of sedation, what to do before your appointment, and who may be eligible.
What Is Sedation Dentistry?
Sedation dentistry involves using medications like tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, anti-depression drugs, and nitrous oxide to relax patients during a dental appointment for routine or significant dental procedures. Dentists use different types of sedation depending on the specific dental procedure and the patient’s anxiety level.
The levels of sedation include minimal, moderate, or deep sedation, generally used by dentists to help patients relax in the dentist’s chair.
- Minimal sedation relaxes the patient but keeps them conscious and responsive.
- Moderate sedation makes patients remain in a deeper state of relaxation where they might mumble when talking and might not recollect their dental visit.
- Deep sedation can make the patient sleepy but responsive to queries by the dentist whenever needed.
- However, oral sedation dentistry is unlike general anesthesia rendering the patient entirely unconscious.
What Types of Sedation Are Used in Dentistry?
Not every dental procedure requires sedation, although you can request it if you are scared of dental visits. For example, if you fear dentists even during routine exams as it is familiar to children, you might receive inhalable nitrous oxide or laughing gas with oxygen to help you relax at the dentist’s practice.
Nitrous oxide dissipates soon after removing the nasal mask on your nose to enable you to drive back home or work.
Minimal and moderate sedation requires taking pills one hour before your dental appointment for relaxation. The medicine makes you feel exhausted but relaxed during your dental procedure.
If you need moderate sedation, the drugs would likely make you sleep in the dentist’s chair to remember nothing about your dental appointment.
Deep sedation can make you unconscious or entirely exhausted, but capable of being woken up without issues.
What Should I Do Before Sedation Dentistry?
To ease your mind before your dental procedure, you must ensure the dentist is trained and qualified to administer different types of sedation for the process you will undergo. Provide the dentist with your entire medical history to confirm you are suitable for dental sedation.
You must also ensure the sedation level suggested for your needs is appropriate for your health and age, besides the procedure you need, and is compatible with other medications you might take for various reasons.
The dentist will likely provide a form requesting consent to receive dental sedation. Before completing the form, confirm that you read it comprehensively, asking questions if you are unclear or have any specific questions in the form.
Sedation dentistry will leave you incapable of operating machinery or vehicles. Therefore, you must arrange for transportation to and from your dental appointment and have a responsible caregiver remain with you at home for at least three to four hours until the effects of the drugs wear off.
Oral conscious sedation can help you receive dental treatment, whether minor or significant, with less anxiety, so you can care for your mouth and smile without delaying essential therapies. Individual results vary.
Who Is Eligible for Sedation Dentistry?
Dental anxiety affects many people, including children. The sounds and odors of the dental office and the needles make many people dislike dentistry and want a form of relaxation before they enter the dental practice.
The different levels of sedation enable dentists to relax patients from children to senior citizens. The medications provided by dentists for every patient vary according to their specific needs and the procedure they are scheduled to undergo.
Dental sedation can help patients receive dental treatments for routine cleanings or even full mouth rehabilitation with less fear.
Children generally receive oral sedation in liquids that they can have an hour before their appointment. Adults receive the pills discussed earlier for relaxation. Whether children or adults receive oral sedation, the need for local anesthesia in the mouth remains because sedation dentistry helps manage dental anxiety without numbing the patient’s senses.
On the other hand, local anesthesia numbs the patient’s mouth, functioning as a pain management technique during dental procedures. When combined, the two can help patients receive dental procedures they had been avoiding because of dental anxiety.
If you dislike dental visits because of anxiety, Dr. Kerri Hill at The Art of Dental Wellness provides sedation dentistry to help you feel calmer and receive the dental treatment you need.
We suggest you meet with Dr. Hill to discuss your eligibility for sedation dentistry.
The questions patients ask us first
What levels of sedation are used in dentistry?
Dentists use minimal, moderate, or deep sedation. Minimal sedation keeps you conscious and responsive, moderate sedation brings a deeper state of relaxation, and deep sedation can make you sleepy but still responsive to questions.
What should I do before sedation dentistry?
Confirm that the dentist is trained to administer the type of sedation you need, share your full medical history, and read the consent form carefully. Arrange transportation to and from your appointment.
Do I still need local anesthesia with sedation?
Yes. Sedation helps manage dental anxiety, while local anesthesia numbs the mouth, so the two are often combined.
Can children and seniors receive sedation?
Yes. The levels of sedation allow dentists to relax patients from children to senior citizens, with medications chosen for each patient and procedure.
This article is general information, not personal medical advice. Every smile and treatment plan is different, so Dr. Hill reviews your options with you at your consultation.
