Sedation Dentistry Types: Which is Good for Me?

Sedation dentistry is the best discovery ever, especially for people who are struggling with a huge dental phobia.

Sedation dentistry is the best discovery ever, especially for people who are struggling with a huge dental phobia. Now these patients can go through complicated dental treatments sedated to the point where they do not even remember anything from the procedure.

However, the general health condition of the patient is indeed a deciding factor in whether a patient is allowed or not to undergo deep anesthesia or IV sedation for instance.

The main types of sedation dentistry include nitrous oxide sedation (inhalational sedation), I.V. sedation, oral sedation, and deep sedation (general anesthesia). In order to understand what type of sedation you need, or which type is suitable for you, it is important to highlight the main characteristics of each.

The Oral sedation- this is basically prescription medication, such as anti-anxiety pills which will help the patient calm down right before the procedure. If you are struggling with dental phobia, you can ask your dentist to prescribe an anti-anxiety drug for you. The most popular types of such medication include Xanax, Halcion, Ativan or Valium. It is extremely important that you never take such medication on your own, because you might do more harm to yourself than good.

IV Sedation- or Intravenous sedation supposes that your dentist will place a catheter right into the veins, and the sedative is going to be administered through that catheter. However, the medication administered in this form is used in order to treat anxiety, to make the patient relax.

Then, the dentist will administer the local anesthetic, which will numb the jaw, so that he can perform the work. IV sedation is much stronger than oral sedation, since medication injected into the catheter and directly into the veins will act much faster and more efficiently. Generally, the dentist will monitor vital functions such as breathing or heart rate during the procedure. Right before the administration of IV sedation, the doctor might also measure the blood pressure.

Nitrous oxide sedation- known as inhalation of “laughing gas” is yet another popular type of sedation. Nitrous oxide will slowly sedate the patient, and the gas is inhaled through a hose or a tube connected to a mask that the patient wears. Next, the patient is asked to breathe in slowly, and the sedation will set in.

Deep anesthesia in dental offices is generally performed only for patients that are extremely difficult to treat otherwise. There are patients with different health conditions such as physical or mental disabilities who need to be put under general anesthesia so that the dentist can perform the procedures.