If you have ever felt nervous, anxious, or even fearful about visiting the dentist, I want you to know you are not alone. Dental anxiety is something we see every single day in our office. It can range from mild uneasiness to a deep fear that keeps people from getting the care that they truly need. Let’s walk through the concept of sedation in dentistry, what it is, the different types available to you, and how we use it to help patients relax during their procedures. Whether you're coming in for a routine cleaning or a more complex treatment, sedation can make your entire experience much more comfortable and manageable.
What is sedation?
Sedation is a way, through different medications, to relax you. It is needed in dentistry because oftentimes people are fearful and nervous about coming to the dentist, and they need just a little something to make them more comfortable. There are lots of ways to sedate our patients, but basically, that is what sedation is. It's a pharmacological way to make you feel more at ease.
What are the three basic types of sedation commonly used in dentistry?
One is a gas, nitrous, or laughing gas, that is used very frequently because when you turn it on, you can sedate your patient or just relax them a little bit. But when you turn it off, within a couple of breaths, the medication is gone from your system. Another way to sedate patients is called oral conscious sedation, and it is administered via pills that you take. The last way to sedate patients is through IVs. So there's gas, pills, and IV medications.
Who are good candidates for sedation dentistry?
Good candidates for sedation dentistry are anyone who is healthy, regardless of age. But you do need to have, depending on your age, a general checkup by your physician within 6 months to a year, up to two years.
What is sedation versus general anesthesia?
It's very simple. In sedation, you are conscious. You might be relaxed. You might feel groggy or even drunk, but you're conscious. You open your eyes, and you breathe on your own. General anesthesia is a condition where you're not responsive, and you're unconscious. So if we ask you to open your eyes, you may not respond. Sometimes we need to breathe for you because you're unable to breathe. But sometimes, even with general anesthesia or IV sedation, you can breathe on your own. It just depends on how deep of a level of sedation we or the anesthesiologist takes you to.
Nitrous Oxide is a Gas
It is very popular in dentistry because people can drive to the appointment. We give them gas, and after the procedure is over, we turn the gas off. We give them oxygen to get the gas out of their system. Within two breaths, you are back to normal, and you can drive yourself back home. It is a very convenient, quick, and easy way to sedate you. But it is only light sedation.
Oral Sedation or Conscious Sedation
For oral sedation, you are generally given a pill. Sometimes, or most often, it's Valium that you take the night before, and the dosing depends on your weight. Once the Valium is given to you the night before, then we give you a different medication the day of the appointment. Normally, you take a pill an hour before your appointment. You have to have someone drive you to the appointment. Then, when you're in the office, we assess if you're comfortable and ready to start or if you need some more sedation. We have pills that we crush and put under your tongue, and once you're comfortably sedated, about half an hour to an hour after the pills are crushed, we start treatment. It will last about 2 to 3 hours of sedation. But right around hour two, we can crush some more pills, put them under your tongue, and extend the time of the sedation.
IV Sedation
Instead of taking a pill, which has to go through your gut and takes time to take effect, an IV is given directly into the vein. It very quickly sedates you, but we can also very quickly turn off the sedation. So IV sedation is basically a medication that goes into your veins, goes to your brain very quickly, and sedates you very quickly. The length of time is extended by simply administering more medication.
What are the benefits of being sedated for a dental treatment or exam?
It allows you to have the dentistry that you need and that you have been avoiding. Avoiding dental care just makes things worse and more costly. So the biggest advantage is that you get the dentistry done that you truly do need to have.
Is sedation done in the office?
At Riverside Center for Esthetic Dentistry, we do what’s considered outpatient sedation. Sometimes the dentist does it with pills or gas. If it is a more involved process, we get a medical anesthesiologist to come in and do the anesthesia for us. But again, it all depends on your health, whether or not you can have outpatient anesthesia. If you're not, and the physician or dentist deems that you're not a candidate, this can also be done in a surgery center where they're better equipped to handle your medical conditions.
What are the risks of sedation dentistry?
One of the risks is that the sedation is in your system for the entire day. Even though the main effect may last two to three hours or slightly longer, for about 24 hours, you're considered under the influence. You certainly cannot drive or operate heavy machinery. So it lasts for about a day.
After about 24 hours, you can continue your work. Same thing with IV sedation. Even though it's a quick onset and we can bring you back quickly, you're still under the influence for a bit of time. So those effects do last about 24 hours.
Can I request sedation at Riverside Center for Esthetic Dentistry?
You can certainly request sedation at our dental office. We do all types of sedation, from laughing gas to oral conscious sedation with pills, all the way to getting an anesthesiologist to come into our office and sedate you. All the anesthesiologists we use are board-certified and very capable of handling your sedation needs.
Sedation can, in fact, be used for all dental procedures. Anything from a filling to a crown to larger procedures, we do in our office.
What is the best way to prepare for a dental appointment with sedation?
The best way to prepare for a dental appointment with sedation is to have a consultation with your dentist. Your dentist will explain everything that's going to happen: the consent forms, the cost, what to do the day before, and what to do the day after or the day of. All this is given to you in a written format. So the best thing you can do for yourself is visit your dentist, have a consultation with him. He'll tell you everything you need to know, put it in writing, and you will be very well informed before the procedure is done.
Does dental insurance cover sedation?
In some instances, it does, but it is quite rare. Your medical insurance might cover some of it, but do not count on it. It is very rare. So sedation in dentistry is most often paid directly by you, the patient.
At Riverside Center for Esthetic Dentistry, you come first. Whether you need dental care or simply have questions, call us at (951) 904-3164 or email [email protected] to schedule your visit. Our team is here to help you every step of the way.