If you need oral surgery to repair or restore the health of your mouth, consider using sedation dentistry to make you feel as comfortable as possible during your procedure. We offer a variety of sedation dentistry techniques to help you experience a relaxed state during both routine and surgical procedures.

If you are extremely anxious about your surgery or procedure, ask if sedation dentistry is available for you. The purpose of sedation dentistry is to help patients achieve a deep state of relaxation so they can feel as comfortable as possible during dental procedures.

Benefits of Sedation Dentistry

Depending on the procedure you are going to have, oral surgery can take hours to complete. One of the major benefits of sedation dentistry is the fact that it allows you to stay relaxed during the procedure and feel as though the entire surgery only lasted a few minutes. Therefore, procedures that otherwise take multiple visits can be completed in fewer appointments.

Another benefit is that sedation dentistry keeps you conscious enough to cooperate with the dentist during oral surgery. That is because the sedatives do not put you to sleep, but rather in a deep relaxed state with some amnesia effects that cause you to forget the procedure.

Sedative methods used during oral surgery

Your dentist will determine which sedation method is best for you based on your level of fear and anxiety about the surgery and the kind of procedure you are undergoing. 

Oral sedation is the most common and one of the easiest types of sedation available. Your dentist will prescribe a pill that should be taken about one hour before your surgery and will deliver a deep relaxation state that makes you feel as though you slept through your surgery.

IV sedation takes effect quicker than oral sedation and has the potential to put you in a deeper state of relaxation. If you are uncomfortable with needles, though, consider that the anti-anxiety drug is administered intravenously through a needle. Your dentist should be able to administer laughing gas to put you at ease while the IV is inserted.

Nitrous oxide is the mildest form of sedation and slowly induces the patient into a state of relaxation.

With all of the above sedation methods, keep in mind that a local anesthetic will still be used at the site where surgery will take place since sedatives provide anxiety relief and are not pain killers.

Your dentist may decide that a general anesthesia is the best choice for you if you have severe anxieties about your surgery. General anesthesia will make you completely unconscious and unaware of your surroundings.

You will need to make arrangements to have someone take you home after your oral surgery if you opt for sedation dentistry since the sedative will take time to wear off. It will also help if someone can monitor and assist you at home for at least a few hours after your surgery is complete.