What Are The Different Levels Of Sedation

Dec 01, 2020

Keeping patients calm and relaxed during any dental procedure is important. It gives the dentist enough time to work on the patient. Sedation is what makes all this happen. It helps patients relax and get through any dental procedure. Sedation has many benefits in both pediatric and general dentistry.

Patients with dental anxiety or phobia can benefit from sedation. Dental anxiety or phobia can have a serious effect on a patient’s dental health. Patients with these issues will avoid a dentist. This puts them at risk of developing infections. This article has information about sedation that will help you.

Sedation Explained

Sedation refers to reducing your irritability using sedative drugs. We do this to facilitate dental procedures that can cause pain and discomfort. Dentists can administer these drugs in several ways. Sedatives can be administered orally, through IV, or through an injection in the muscle.

Several factors can determine the mode of administration. For instance, the type of procedure can influence the mode of administering the sedative. Talk to our Pearland dentist about sedation if you have an upcoming dental procedure.

What are The Benefits of Sedation?

Sedation dentistry is important in most dental procedures. Most patients have dental anxiety, and sedation helps reduce it. Here are the benefits of sedation in dentistry.

Helps Prevent Dental Anxiety and Phobia

Past unpleasant dental experiences can make patients keep off the dentist’s office. Through sedation, patients will have a little memory of what happened. This helps prevent dental anxiety and phobia. If you are afraid of visiting the dentist, sedation will help you.

Eases The Treatment

Our dentist will find it easier to treat you when you are sedated. You will be relaxed, and our dentist near you will have ample time treating you. This is because the focus will only be on treating you and ensuring optimal dental health.

Reduces Number of Dental Visits

Since sedation ensures ease of treatment, we can do more treatments in a few visits. This will reduce the number of time you will need to visit our clinic. We can complete those procedures that take several visits to in a single visit.

Levels Of Sedation

Sedation works by depressing your Central Nervous System to reduce the awareness of your surroundings. There are four levels of sedation. These are minimal sedation, moderate sedation, deep sedation, and general anesthesia.

Minimal Sedation

This is the level of sedation where sedatives minimally depress your Central nervous system. When in minimal sedation, you will be able to breathe and respond to verbal instructions. Most of your cognitive abilities will be impaired, but cardiovascular functions will not be affected. Minimal oral sedation is the level we use for patients with dental anxiety.

Moderate Sedation

Here patients will remain awake and can follow the dentist’s directions. Patients will remember less of the procedure when in moderate sedation. We use it on patients with a history of dental anxiety or phobia. In moderate sedation, we don’t have to intervene to maintain a patent airway.

Deep Sedation

In this level of sedation, you will lose consciousness, and arousing you won’t be easy. You can, however, respond to repeated stimulation. Here you will require assistance to maintain a patent airway. Your cardiovascular functions may be affected.

General Anesthesia

When at this level, you cannot be aroused even by pain stimulation. You also won’t be able to maintain your ventilator functions. Assistance is often required in maintaining a patent airway. The cardiovascular functions are also impaired during general anesthesia.

Sedation Dentistry Safety

There are some risks when it comes to sedation. If you don’t have any underlying conditions, you qualify for sedation. Obese patients and those with sleep apnea should always talk to their dentist before sedation. Such patients can easily develop complications during sedation. The dentist will go over your medical records before sedating you.

Pearly White of Pearland

If you have dental anxiety, you should visit our clinic for any dental procedure. We make use of sedative dentistry to calm you down during dental procedures. Our team of professional will help you through the entire process. Call us now to book an appoitment with our dentist near you. You can also visit our dental clinic if you are living in Central Southwest, Minnetex, Brookside Village, Pearland, Lawson Drive, Westenfeld, Mcintyre Acres, Indigo Bay Drive, and in nearby locations.