For some patients, just thinking about an upcoming dental visit is enough to cause anxiety and fear.
Others suffer from neck and back pain that makes sitting in a dentist’s chair for prolonged periods of time nearly impossible. Still others might have trouble feeling the effects of local anesthetics. Thanks to sedation dentistry, you don’t have to delay or avoid getting the care you need. At Hatch Family Dentistry, we offer a range of sedation options to fit your needs, even if you need extensive dental work completed in just one visit. Imagine undergoing your treatment while relaxed and comfortable and having little to no memory of your appointment afterward! It’s possible with sedation dentistry.
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas”, induces a calming feeling that in many cases places you into a mild trance-like state. You will be awake during treatment, but with decrease anxiety. A local anesthetic is still used to prevent painful sensations, but for most people the gas makes the whole experience much more pleasant. A great feature of nitrous oxide is that its effects completely wear off within a few minutes after you stop breathing the gas, meaning you can drive yourself home from your appointment.
Oral Conscious Sedation
The technique of oral sedation begins about an hour prior to your dental appointment. We will administer a sedative pill to you and after a short period of time you will become very relaxed. Depending on your needs, this sedation can last between 2 and 6 hours. As with nitrous oxide, a local anesthetic will also be used to provide pain relief. You will need to have a driver to take you home after your dental visit.
IV Sedation
Not only has Dr. Hatch administered over 5,000 IV sedations during his career, he also teaches IV sedation at the U.S.C. School of Dentistry, where he is a part-time faculty member.
Intravenous sedation involves the administration of sedatives directly into a patient’s circulatory system. IV sedation induces a dream-like state which often produces either full or partial memory loss (amnesia) for the period of time from when the drugs first set in until they wear off. As a result, the patient comes out of the sedation not recalling much of anything that happened during the procedure. Most people remember nothing at all, feeling as if they must have been asleep during the procedure, when in actuality they were conscious enough to respond to commands and communicate when necessary.
Suitable for the majority of patients, IV sedation enables even the most anxious of people to undergo dental treatment. As with oral sedation, a local anesthetic will be used for pain relief. You will need to have a driver take you home following your dental visit.
General Anesthesia
If it is determined that you need a full general anesthetic, we have an anesthesiologist that will come to our office and provide that service. This saves you expensive costs of going to a hospital or surgery center since we do not charge a facility fee.
Which Form of Sedation Dentistry Is Right for Me?
With your medical history and current health as our guide, we’ll consult with you to decide which form of sedation will work best for you. Nitrous oxide is safe for most people, including children. Oral conscious sedation uses safe, commonly prescribed anti-anxiety medications, while IV sedation allows for a deeper relaxation, and general anesthesia puts you completely unconscious.
Whatever your individual needs, your safety is our primary concern. We have multiple monitoring devices that will be in place during your procedures to monitor your vital signs. Make sure that you have a trusted friend or family member available to drive you home from your appointment, as well as someone who can stay with you after your procedures. The effects of oral and IV sedation take time to wear off.