Sleep Dentist - Gold Coast

WHAT IS INTRAVENOUS SEDATION AND WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Intravenous sedation in dentistry is very safe and highly effective and will make your dental visit a relaxing, sleepy and comfortable experience. It is also known as twilight sedation, sleep dentistry or twilight anaesthesia. A combination of intravenous anaesthetic, sedative and pain relieving medications is administered to create a very sleepy and pleasant dream-like state for the whole procedure so that you will be relaxed, comfortable and unaware of your surroundings while still maintaining the ability to breathe on your own, move and able to obey commands. The vast majority of people have no memory of the procedure. Memory before and after IV sedation is usually not affected. Patients often comment that the whole procedure has passed in only a few minutes when in reality it may have been several hours.

WHO CAN HAVE IV SEDATION?

Intravenous sedation is available and very effective for any dental procedure. It is suitable and extremely safe for most people. No procedure is too small for IV sedation.

Intravenous sedation is beneficial for all dental patients including the following:

• Have anxiety or fear/phobia or are nervous about dental procedures or avoid going to the dentist.
• Dislike needles, drills, pain/discomfort, sights, sounds/noises, tastes or smells associated with their dental procedures.
• Require removal of wisdom teeth, teeth extractions, dental surgery/oral surgery, dental implants, root canal treatment, fillings, periodontal or gum treatments, crowns and bridges, full mouth restorations, bone grafts, All on 4/All on 6, and so on.

HOW IS IV SEDATION PERFORMED?

Our Medical Anaesthetist Dr Kim will monitor you with all the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists(ANZCA) recommended full monitoring and hospital grade equipment during the entire intravenous sedation and dental procedure.

An anaesthetic syringe driver, routinely used in all hospital theatres in Australia, will administer an accurate and continuous infusion of intravenous anaesthetic, sedative and pain relieving medications via a small IV cannula/drip placed in your arm or hand. The intravenous medications work quickly and are very effective and you will drift off into a relaxed, sleepy and pleasant dream-like state and you will be comfortable and unaware of your surroundings and the vast majority usually have no recollection of the procedure. Local anaesthetic and/or any nerve blocks(for intra-operative and post-operative pain relief) are only administered once intravenous sedation is working so that there is no awareness and no memory of the needles or dental procedure.

ARE THERE SIDE EFFECTS?

IV Sedation is very well tolerated and side effects and complications are rare. A very small minority of patients have dream-like recollections of the experience and can recall features of the clinic or verbal conversations but these are not distressing.

Transient minor side-effects can include dizziness and nausea. Intravenous anti-nausea medications are also given prophylactically so the risk of nausea is extremely low.

Intravenous sedation is extremely safe for most people and is suitable for any dental procedure. 

If you are interested in Intravenous Sedation for your Dental Surgery or Dental Procedure please contact Oasis Dental Studio for further information.