Sedation Dentistry

Intravenous sedation treatment is a type of sedation that involves the administration of sedative medication intravenously, or directly through your veins. It’s a type of conscious sedation that helps you relax during your procedure. This approach does not entirely put you to sleep, but it does make you less aware of your surroundings, including what the dentist is doing to your mouth. You should still be able to respond to verbal instructions, and you shouldn’t require assistance with breathing.

The IV sedation takes effect quickly, and you will feel minimal to no pain during the procedure. As a result, your dentist can perform multiple procedures in only one dental appointment because you can cooperate for a longer time. In addition, it causes a long period of amnesia, so you won’t remember everything that happened during the process when you wake up.

Sedation dentistry and general anaesthesia differ in several distinct ways:

• With sedation dentistry, you are mostly awake, while you are almost always entirely in a deep sleep with general anaesthesia.
• If you have had sedation dentistry, you may remember some of the procedures. In contrast, you should have no memory of the procedure at all if you have general anaesthesia.
• While sedation dentistry may not take effect immediately unless it’s administered via IV, general anaesthesia works a lot faster as the drugs are absorbed quickly into your bloodstream.
• After sedation dentistry, you may be able to drive yourself home soon after the procedure, as you may regain control of your physical and mental faculties quickly. However, you will need someone to bring you home after general anaesthesia, as it may take hours for it to wear off.

According to the Australian Dental Association guidelines, only dentists who have been endorsed by the Dental Board of Australia may perform sedation techniques for dental procedures.