How will I know if I need sedation during my dental procedure?

Sedation dentistry helps an untold number of patients get the dental care that they need. The relaxing medications used in this approach can help patients overcome any anxiety they may feel about their dental procedures.

When patients choose sedation dentistry, they receive anti-anxiety medications that help them achieve a state of deep relaxation. Although the patient has the sensation of being asleep, patients remain conscious throughout the procedure, but they have no recollection of the session after the fact.

Many dental procedures call for some sort of sedation, especially those performed by an oral surgeon. As such, your surgeon may recommend that you consider sedation.

In the past, patients may have selected general anesthesia when having dental implants or getting their wisdom teeth extracted, but sedation offers a safer alternative in such cases. The patient is conscious throughout the appointment, and the airway is not compromised.

The surgeon may also recommend sedation to patients who are facing multiple interventions or time-consuming procedures, as the sedatives allow patients to tolerate longer sessions. With sedation, a surgeon or dentist may be able to complete a complex treatment in fewer appointments, which is more convenient for the patients.

Of course, sedation also is helpful to patients with severe dental fear, which can be exacerbated when the intervention in question is a surgical one. These treatments can help preserve or stabilize a patient’s smile, but not if the patient is too reluctant to pursue them. Sedation is tremendously valuable in such cases.

Ultimately, whether to opt for sedation for a dental procedure is a highly individual decision between the patient and the oral surgeon. If you are scheduled to undergo oral surgery and a little apprehensive, sedation may help you overcome that obstacle.

Even if you’re not anxious, it’s also important to have a thorough understanding of what the procedure entails to determine if sedation will make your experience a more comfortable one. Talk with our experienced oral surgery team in advance of the procedure to see if sedation dentistry might benefit you.

Exit mobile version