INSIGHT | SEDATION FOR DENTAL ANXIETY

October 6, 2022

Who really truly loves sitting in the dental chair and having their teeth looked at, drilled, or even pulled out!? I am an oral surgeon who is used to dental treatment and my answer to this question would be “not me!”. There is something about dental treatment that feels different to any other health care. Perhaps it’s those injection needles, drills, or just the thought of being in a dental setting – something about dentistry can trigger anxiety or sometimes even irrational fear for a lot of people. It’s not infrequent that I hear people say, shortly after walking into the surgery: “I would rather give birth than have a tooth extraction” – thanks to sedation techniques though, the vast majority of our patients walk out of the surgery saying “actually, it was fine!”.

Bosun Hong

Specialist Oral Surgeon

What is sedation and what to expect from it?

Sedation is used to help people feel calm and relaxed during dental treatment. It is different from general anaesthesia. When you are sedated, you remain awake but feel sleepy and less aware of your surroundings. Sedation does not numb the teeth, so a local dental injection is still needed. The main benefit is that you feel much more relaxed before the teeth are numbed and the treatment begins.

With certain types of sedation, such as when a sedative called midazolam is given through a vein, many people remember very little of the treatment. This happens because of how the medicine works, and most patients are comfortable with this effect. The sedatives used in dental care are very safe, and recovery time is usually quick. Sedation also allows treatment to be scheduled sooner, as waiting times are much shorter than those for general anaesthesia in hospital settings.

Sedation Options

There are a number of ways in which a sedative drug can be delivered. At Bristol Dental Specialists, you might be suitable for sedation:

• by breathing in gas through a nosepiece (inhalation)

• by injection into a vein in their hand or arm (intravenous)

• by swallowing a medicine (oral)

We can agree on which of these methods would work best for you when we meet face-to-face for a pre-treatment consultation. To reach a decision about the optimal sedation option, we would consider factors including the level of your dental anxiety, the length of the planned dental treatment, medical history, and social circumstances.

Can children and teenagers have sedation?

The simple answer is yes, but some types of sedation are usually only offered to older teenagers or adults. For children under the age of twelve, inhalation sedation is usually the preferred option. Every person develops at a different pace, both physically and mentally, and this does not always match their age. At Bristol Dental Specialists, we create a personalised anxiety care plan after carefully assessing each patient’s physical development, emotional readiness, and any possible risks.

Questions? Please contact us

Most patients who feel anxious about dental treatment find that sedation helps them relax enough to go ahead with care they once felt was not possible. We would be happy to welcome you to our practice for a sedation consultation, and you can learn more about this service on our website.

If you are a dentist and would like to refer a patient, you can be confident they will receive safe and high-quality care. Our online referral forms are easy to use and available on our website. We also offer a free initial video consultation to introduce our services, review the case, and answer any questions you may have.

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