The idea of spending an afternoon at the dentists office is enough for a lot of people to send them running for the pliers. People are notorious for being terrified of dentists, and for many people, the focus lies with two things, the sound of the drill and the pain that goes along with it. Some people, such as children, have a natural fear of the dentist, while there are others whose fear stems from a traumatic dental experience in their past. The frantic voices of those people have not gone unnoticed, and there is an answer for their worries, by way of the professional known as the sedation dentist.



While the use of anesthesia to have people sleep through operations on the body has been used for thousands of years, using it for dental work is a comparatively new phenomenon. The difference with dentistry, though, is that patients are usually not completely asleep, but are put into a relaxed, sleep like state. Being non coherent while a procedure is being performed is the perfect solution for anyone who is severely apprehensive about sitting in the dentists chair, listening to the sound of their teeth being drilled into bits. The benefits of sedation for dentistry are many, and patients everywhere can now rejoice.

The most obvious benefit of being semi conscious through time with the dentist is the lack of pain felt by the patient. The patient sits in the chair, oral problems in tow, is given his sedation, and then wakes up free from his maladies and the stress and pain. There are several different methods of administering sedation to patients, and it depends on each patient as to which method the dentist will use. There is conscious sedation using oral sedatives, having the patient inhale nitrous oxide, sedation through an intravenous line (IV), and general anesthesia.

Oral sedatives can be given to the patient either the night before a procedure or up to a half an hour before it. It is important to realize that oral sedatives do not provide pain relief, and are meant to relieve severe anxiety, so anesthetic must be used in addition to the oral sedative. Inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, enhances a persons state of relaxation to calm down nerves. IV sedatives, like oral sedatives, do not provide pain relief, but can take effect quickly for the patient. Finally, general anesthesia is available to those of us who are sufferers of true dental phobias or who require substantial procedures and complex oral surgeries.