What Should You Expect with Conscious Sedation Dentistry?

Conscious Sedation is becoming an increasingly popular option for dental patients that have an inherent fear of the dentist. Conscious sedation is used to reduce your level of consciousness in order to minimize your anxiety, pain, and discomfort during your dental procedure through the use of sedatives and pain relievers. You will maintain consciousness during your visit, but will not be fully unconscious.

What Types of Procedure Make Use of Conscious Sedation?

Some patients that have an inherent fear of the dentist, or severe dental phobia will seek out a sedation dentist for their visits in order to have procedures accomplished that range from teeth cleanings to getting fillings. Other uses of conscious sedation include having dental reconstructive surgery and non-dental procedures such as a vasectomy, minor foot surgery, and plastic or reconstructive surgeries.

What Happens to You after Conscious Sedation?

After you undergo conscious sedation, you may experience a short period of amnesia after your procedure is completed. Other side effects reported by patients include extreme nausea, vomiting, headaches, or just bad memories about your surgery or procedure. You will also need to be driven home by a competent provider or adult after the procedure. Your driver will be given written instructions for you to follow for post-operative medicines or care and you should avoid driving or making any important decisions for at least a day after the procedure is completed.

What to Ask Your Sedation Dentist about Conscious Sedation

You should not enter into a conscious sedation procedure blindly. You need to make sure to ask your dentist if they have a trained provider or assistant that will monitor you during the sedation to include watching your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Although it's not required in every state, you also need to ask if they have someone who is trained to provide emergency resuscitation to you in the event of an emergency as well as the equipment on hand to use it. Some dentists may try to cut costs and not have the right gear on-hand to ensure your safety, so make sure you enter any sedation-based procedure armed with how your provider intends to keep you safe!

Medical Debates on Conscious Sedation

If you research conscious sedation on the Internet or in dental/medical journals, you will see there are concerns about sedation being used in cases where it is not appropriate. There are also potential issues that if your sedation dentist or care giver provides too great of a concentration of the sedation drugs to you that unconsciousness and more serious health consequences from the procedure may result.