All You Need To Know About Sedation Dentistry

About 75% of all adults have some form of fear and aversion to dental treatments. Causes can be unpleasant and painful experiences with previous visits to the dentist, general anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, feelings of helplessness and lack of control, low pain threshold, phobia of dental drills or the sound of dental equipment, and many other subjective reasons. Not even the fact that dentistry has advanced significantly in recent years and that local anesthetics can eliminate the pain during the procedure helps.

Suppose you have identified yourself in one of the described conditions. In that case, the good news is that Heritage Smiles Dental, the dentist in SE Calgary, uses various ways to calm you down and make your stay in the clinic a not so bad and unpleasant experience. Performing a sedation procedure is one way to help you avoid discomfort and fear, so look for sedation dentistry near you already today!

How Sedation Dentistry Works

Sedation is an anesthetic procedure in which the patient is brought to a state of calm and reduced consciousness. It is performed under the supervision of a specialist anesthesiologist. During the procedure, drugs are administered intravenously, which leads to reduced nervous system activity. As a result, the patient becomes calm, unaware of the procedure and the passage of time, but verbal communication remains possible. In the state of sedation, vital functions are undisturbed, i.e., the patient does not need help with airway maintenance, cardiovascular function or ventilation, and can respond to commands such as a verbal call or light touch.

By conscious sedation, Heritage Smiles Dental will achieve a minimal reduction in the level of consciousness. With the help of one or more drugs, they achieve a state of reduced central nervous system activity. You will look alert and aware, you will open your eyes to the

call, and you will answer the questions asked. You will not be aware of the passage of time, and you will not feel any fear. The sounds you will hear will not bother you at all, and you will be very comfortable. You will relax and, in this way, you will enable the dentist to do his job with as little stress as possible for you.

What To Do Before and After Sedation?

It is recommended for complicated and long-lasting procedures in the mouth. It is an excellent solution for people who have a strong fear of dentists, and sedation is recommended for smaller procedures. Before the procedure, it is necessary to fill out a Health Questionnaire through which the dentist and anesthesiologist get acquainted with the patient's health condition, including the existence of allergies to drugs, the existence of other diseases, and medications that the patient takes.

It is not allowed to eat or drink 6 hours before the planned procedure; only clean water is allowed up to two hours before the start of the procedure. In agreement with the doctor, it is recommended to take the usual medications before surgery, especially for the treatment of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. The exception is anticoagulant therapy, which should be temporarily discontinued due to the risk of increased bleeding.

During sedation, the anesthesiologist specialist administers intravenous drugs and monitors vital functions. A pulse oximeter is used to monitor arterial blood oxygen saturation and measure blood pressure, ECG, and CO2 levels at the end of expiration. After the procedure, some 20-30 minutes will pass until a patient gets back to a normal state, but it is recommended for someone to accompany the person home. Sedation dentistry in SE Calgary Heritage Smiles Dental is a good example of a dentist near you who can help you overcome fear and stay healthy.