Do You Feel Pain During IV Sedation Dentistry?

Can you feel pain during IV sedation dentistry? No. When IV sedation dentistry is performed properly, you will not feel pain and you will not remember any part of the procedure. That is the entire point of sedation at the dentist. Dr. Adams has been putting people to sleep for routine and complex dental work for years. He has pre sedation techniques involving oral sedatives and nitrous oxide dental gas to relax you while he inserts an IV. Once the IV is inserted and the sedative drugs are delivered, you will not remember anything and you will not feel any pain.

Though IV sedative dental drugs are delivered, it is still necessary to use local anesthesia. Local anesthesia is necessary because the nerves in your mouth and teeth will still feel pain if Dr. Adams does not numb them. Additionally at the end of your sedation procedure, we will wake you up and you do not want to have pain as soon as you wake up. It is better to get some pain medication into your system and have the local anesthesia wear off slowly.

Pain, discomfort and dental phobia are the major reasons why majority of people do not want to visit the dental office. They feel discomfort when their dentist drills decayed teeth due to feeling of pressure and noises produced by the dental drills. Similarly, the sight of sharp instruments and anticipation of needle pricks discourages small children and teenagers from going to the dental health care providers. Luckily, during IV sedation dentistry you will not be scared and you will not feel any pain. Intravenous sedation is the best relaxation technique for the sedative dentistry.

Sedation Dentistry Video

Does Conscious Sedation Help Dentists and Patients?

Conscious sedation is the latest invention for reducing anxiety and stress in dental patients. This innovative technique minimizes pain and discomfort making dental treatments pleasant for the dental phobic individuals. People feel at home while sitting in the dental chair during filling of their teeth or removal of their decayed teeth. IV sedation puts the patients at ease and you will sleep through your dental treatment without remembering any unpleasant sensation afterwards.

Conscious  or moderate sedation can be provided through the use of medicines and formulations. These medicines can be given through mouth, nose and intravenously. Intravenous (IV) sedation is simple and can be easily given to anxious patients in the dental office with special training and expertise like nitrous oxide inhalation sedation.

Can you wake up during Sedation Dentistry?

Not usually. The sedative drugs are pretty effective at keep patients asleep. you will usually be totally asleep during your scaling, tooth filling or wisdom tooth surgery procedure. You will be in a relaxed state of mind and not aware of your surroundings. At a certain point the drugs will begin to wear off and more sedatives will be administered to keep you in a sedated state.

If you happen to wake up you will not remember, because you will be put back to sleep quickly with more sedatives. You will not remember all the steps of the dental treatment procedure and this side effect is also helpful in reducing your dental phobia and anxiety i.e. when you will not remember needle prick for providing numbness before root canal treatment of your diseased tooth you will be comfortable visiting for the next appointment in the dental office.

Sedative Medications Used for Sedation Dentistry?

Benzodiazepine group of medications are considered safest for IV dental sedation. Following drugs are generally used for achieving reliable IV sedation for performing dental treatments,

• Midazolam aka Verced
• Fentanyl,
• Triazolam
• Precedex

Benefits Of IV Sedation Over Oral Sedation?

All methods of providing dental conscious sedation are safe and reliable. Following are the few advantages of IV sedation in comparison to oral and inhalation sedation,

• Easy to perform,
• Very fast and quick relaxation effect as compared to other methods,
• No sense of nasty smells and bad noises of dental drills at all,
• Does not need special equipment and maintenance of cylinders like nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation,
• Level of conscious sedation can be easily changed by the dentist whenever needed (completely customizable),
• IV sedation is especially better in patients who suffer from the problem of mouth gagging,
• It should be used in people with nasal hood phobia who are unable to comply with nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalational conscious sedation.

Who Is A Candidate For IV Conscious Sedation?

• bad dental experience in the past,
•  fear of dental clinics,
• gagging easily,
• problem of getting late numbness in gums and teeth,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults with extremely hypersensitive teeth even with normal room air,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults with multiple decayed teeth which require lengthy dental treatment appointments,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults with high fear of needle prick,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults allergic to nasty smells, sharp noises of dental drills and bitter tastes of dental materials used for fillings, cleaning and disinfection of bacteria within mouth,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults with extremely low degree of pain threshold,
• Infants, toddlers, children and adults who face difficulty in remaining still in the dental chair,
• People who feel embarrassed and afraid of showing their bad teeth to strangers.
• ,persons suffering from general anxiety disorders,
• Patients with special conditions like developed resistance to local anesthesia drugs due to substance abuse etc,
• Extremely limited mouth opening due to disease condition like oral sub-mucous fibrosis or due to small mouth size.

Dental Procedures Performed Under IV Sedation Dentistry

• Tooth Fillings,
• Local anesthesia,
• Dental Implants
• Dentures
• All on 4 Implants
• Wisdom Teeth Removal
• Porcelain veneers,
• Bridges,
• Crowns

Sedation Dentistry For Anxiety and Dental Fear?

The major benefit which IV sedation provides to the dental patients is improved dental and oral health in all severities of dental disease. IV sedation can be customized according to the level of anxiety which affects different patients. IV sedation enables the dental health care provider in performing simple as well as complex surgeries within no time. Multiple dental procedures are performed in a single appointment. Under IV sedation is is possible to get a lot of dental work done in one appointment. People who would normally need 3-4 appointments to get all their dental work done, may be able to get everything done in one IV sedation appointment. Typically, patients who undergo long sedation appointments do really well and have very minimal pain or swelling. This is thought to be because they are so comfortable and calm through out the procedures.

Twilight Sedation vs General Anesthesia?

Iv conscious sedation puts you in a dreamy and semi awake state of mind where you remain aware of your surroundings. On the other hand, general anesthesia is associated with complete loss of consciousness and you will be asleep during the whole procedure followed by an episode of recovery which can be quite tricky and embarrassing at times for you and your dental staff.

Can Any Dentist Perform IV Sedation?

Special training and expertise is needed for administration of IV sedation in the dental office. A dental anesthesiologist needs to do a rigorous sedation dental residency. Then the dentist must pass a test administered by the Dental Board of Examiners to receive a license to provide IV sedation as a dentist. It is better to consult an anesthesiologist if there is no trained sedation dentist available in the dental clinic.