What is Dental Conscious Sedation?
A growing trend in available cosmetic and wellness dental procedures has been the offering of conscious sedation methods for patients that have an inherent fear of the dentist. Conscious sedation refers to when your dental care provider uses medication, IV, or inhaled gas to sedate the patient prior to undergoing dental care treatment.
Why Consider Dental Conscious Sedation?
Many people consider visiting a dentist who offers conscious sedation due to an inherent fear of seeing the dentist and do not cope well with using relaxation techniques or open discussions with their dentist about the upcoming procedure(s). Some patients even forgo going to the dentist altogether due to their anxiety or fear of pain for the most basic dental procedures. The procedure is commonly referred to as “Twighlight Sleep” so the patient is not unconcious but commonly does not “remember” the dental procedure occurring.
How is Conscious Sedation Performed?
There are three common types of methods used when you undergo conscious sedation: intraveneous drugs (IV’s), oral medications, and laughing gas (nitrous oxide). Many sedation dentists will prefer conducting the procedure using oral medication or laughing gas since the patient is not unconcious and it is considered safer as compared to sedation methods which knock you out. The specific type of sedation conducted will depend on your dentist and the procedure that you are going to undergo.
What are the Potential Side Effects for Conscious Sedation?
IV’s and medication sedation methods can result in side effects on subsequent days such as insomnia after undergoing conscious sedation procedures with your dentist. For this reason, some patients and/or dentists prefer to use nitrous oxide as their sedation method to minimize any side effects from treatment. Other potential negatives for conscious sedation include having to get someone to drive you to and from the dentist. The effectiveness of various conscious sedation methods vary based on the patient’s health, body weight, and metabolism.
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[...] How Do Dentists Use Conscious Sedation? William Jones is a freelance writer who commonly writes on health related topics for Cosmetic Dentistry, http://www.cosmeticdentalprocedure.com . You can read more of his work on getting help to stop smoking at: http://www.cosmeticdentalprocedure.com/2009/11/what-is-dental-conscious-sedation/ [...]