Different Types Of Sedation
Our office offers oral sedation for a comfortable and stress free visit. It only involves taking a small pill one hour before treatment. It is very safe and much less costly than other forms of sedation. The patient takes the pill in the office and is then carefully monitored until the effect takes place and the procedure is finished. This is typically used for short visits, one to three hours.
The following types of sedation are used in dentistry:
- Oral Sedation - Depending on the total dose given, oral sedation can range from minimal to moderate. For minimal sedation, you take a pill. Typically, the pill is Halcion, which is a member of the same drug family as Valium and it's usually taken about an hour before the procedure. The pill makes you drowsy, although you'll still be awake. A larger dose may be given to produce moderate sedation. This is the type of anesthesia most commonly associated with sedation dentistry. Some people become groggy enough from moderate oral sedation to actually fall asleep during the procedure. They usually can, though, be awakened with a gentle shake.
- IV Moderate Sedation: You receive the sedative drug through a vein, so it goes to work more quickly. This method allows the dentist to continually adjust the level of sedation.
- Deep Sedation and General Anesthesia: You will get medications that will make you either almost unconscious or totally unconscious, deeply asleep, during the procedure. While you are under general anesthesia, you cannot easily be awakened until the effects od the anesthesia waer of or are reversed with medication.
- Regardless of which type of sedation you receive, you will also typically need a local anesthetic, numbing medication at the site where the dentist is working in the mouth to releive pain if the procedure causes any discomfort.