Sedation for the Anxious Patient

Having dental treatment while you are asleep is known as Sleep Dentistry and may also be referred to as Dental Sedation, Sleep Sedation, Twilight Sedation and Sedation Dentistry and involves IV sedation and anaesthesia to induce sleep and reduce pain, awareness and recollection during dental procedures. In this way, it alleviates the fear, anxiety and discomfort that may often be associated with general and paediatric dentistry.

Sedation dentistry allows patients to feel at ease and comfortable when undergoing a treatment. Some dental patients are apprehensive and anxious when they are having treatment completed and we understand that this may be a deterrent for many patients. By easily accommodating our patients with sedation, patients can complete their treatment plans with confidence.

What is Intravenous (IV) Sedation?

IV Sedation refers to the use of pharmacological agents administered intravenously to calm and relax a patient prior to and during a dental appointment. The pharmacological agents belong to a class of drugs called sedatives, which exert their action by depressing the central nervous system allowing the patient to be calmer, more relaxed and usually unaware of the procedure taking place.

IV Sedation also known as ‘twilight sedation’ is a state of being in-between awake and asleep. Patients are still semi-conscious and are able to respond to commands such as ‘take a deep breath’ or ‘open wider’ with no recollection of the procedure. The sedative drugs used have anterograde amnesic properties meaning that patients don’t remember what happens during the time the drugs are active. Memory before and after sedation is usually not affected. Patient’s often feel that the whole procedure passed in only a few minutes when in reality, it may have taken several hours.

No procedure is too small for this process. If you are a patient who is too anxious to even have a dental clean, then sedation can definitely help you.

The most common procedures performed under dental sedation are:

• Wisdom teeth extractions
• Tooth extractions
• Fillings
• Implants

However, any dental procedure can be performed.

We Now Offer General Anaesthetic!

Our doctors have been accredited at Brisbane Water Private and Tuggerah Lakes Private hospital
offering General Anaesthetics for patients in a safe environment in some of central coasts best
private hospital facilities.

What to Expect

On the day of your dental sedation, monitors are set up to assess Blood Pressure, Oxygen Saturation, Pulse Rate and an ECG is placed to monitor the heart both before and during the dental procedure. Once fitness for IV sedation has been established, an intravenous line is set-up. Sedative and pain-relieving drugs are administered via this IV line and instant relaxation is felt within a few minutes allowing the dentist to initiate the dental procedure needed. Local anaesthetic is only administered once sedation is underway so there is no awareness of any needles or the procedure.

We have a team of sedation experts that visit the practice fortnightly and on anregular basis. To find out more please contact the practice on (02) 4392 0990