SEDATION DENTISTRY at Dentist Munster Indiana
Sedation Dentistry simply refers to the use of medication to help relax patients as they undergo dental procedures. Time and again, sedation dentistry has been branded “sleep dentistry”. This however is not entirely the case since patients are normally awake, except of course those on general anesthesia. Sedation dentistry has been established to be very useful especially bearing in mind that a large percentage of patients find it impossible to relax once they are on the dentist’s chair.
There are various levels of sedation. The lowest form of sedation is referred to as minimal sedation. Just as the name suggests, sedation is administered minimally. The patient is awake but yet relaxed. It is also popularly referred to as conscious sedation. As much as patients may be awake and slurry in speech, they are likely to remember very little about the procedure.
A second level of sedation is deep sedation. In this form of sedation, the patient may be drifting from consciousness. However he/she can be still awakened. Again, the patient might not recall much of what happened during the procedure.
General anesthesia is the greatest level of sedation. Once sedation reaches the level of general anesthesia, the patient completely drifts from consciousness. This means that the patient does not feel a thing and in fact remembers close to nothing about the procedure.
There are various forms of sedation applied in dentistry. The first common form of sedation in dentistry is minimal inhaled sedation. This sedation is achieved through administration of nitrous oxide popularly referred to as laughing gas accompanied by oxygen via a gas mask. The dentist controls the amount of sedation administered. An advantage of this form of sedation is that the gas wears off fast.
Oral sedation is also common in dentistry. Oral sedation will range from minimal up to moderate. Minimal oral sedation can be achieved through intake of a pill. A pill commonly used for this purpose is Halcion, administered approximately an hour before the start of the procedure. This form of sedation is very common in dentistry. To achieve moderate sedation, the drug for sedation is administered through the vein to ensure it works faster. This means that the dentist can adjust the sedation level at will.
Another form of sedation in dentistry is general anesthesia and deep sedation. In this form of sedation, medication administered renders the patient fully unconscious or deeply asleep throughout the entire procedure. Patients cannot awake easily unless the sedation is medically reversed or the anesthesia effects wear off.
As much as sedation dentistry proves useful, it must work hand in hand with numbing medication administered on the specific spot being worked on in the mouth. This medication is meant to protect the patient from any pain that may be caused by the procedure.