Sedation
Dental Sedation
If you have a fear of dentists or of dental treatments, sedation is an option for you. It enables dental treatment to be carried out whilst you are relaxed and makes your visit much more pleasant. It is commonly used on patients who have a fear or phobia of dental treatment. This fear can be for a number of reasons including:
The underlying issue is that whatever phobia patients may have, they will often choose to neglect dental treatment because of this phobia and thus create more damage to the teeth. Sedation not only helps the patient but also greatly assists the dentists as they are able to carry out the procedure with greater cooperation from a relaxed patient.
What is dental sedation?
It is the use of sedative medications in order to make the patient more relaxed and to allow the dentist to perform the necessary dental procedures. These medications range from tranquilizers to anxiolytics and can be administered in a number of ways.
These medications do not send you to sleep, though you will feel sleepy and relaxed.
What types of sedation are available?
There are a few different types of sedation dentistry that facilitate performing dental procedures:
Oral conscious sedation – is exactly as it says, the patient is given oral sedatives which will relieve most of the stress although he will remain conscious in order to follow any instructions given by the dentist.
You will be given a sedative to take one hour prior to your dental treatment. These sedatives will make the patient feel drowsy and have a similar effect to amnesia and you may not remember a lot about the procedure. Although oral sedatives cannot relieve pain, you will be relaxed when the dentist administers the local anesthetic .
Due to extreme drowsiness effect, you are advised not to drive to or from the dental surgery.
Local anaesthetic – This works by blocking nerve impulses to the site where the dental procedure is being performed. An anaesthetic gel or spray which has a numbing effect may be applied before the local aesthetic injection is administered. Under local anaesthesia you are fully conscious although you do not feel any of the effects of the treatment.
To find out if you are eligible for dental sedation, call us on: (02) 4862 5888
