For patients with dental anxiety, treatments are made possible with the aid of sedation, either administered through nitrous oxide laughing gas (inhalation), a sedative pill (oral) or through the veins (intravenous). But what happens if the patient is afraid of sedation itself or potential side effects from it? How can an extremely fearful patient who needs to be sedated in order to undergo the required dental procedure receive a high dose of sedatives intravenously when at the same time, he/she is terrified of needles?

Sedative drugs work to facilitate a dental procedure by reducing the patient’s agitation or irritability. As with any other drugs or medication, sedatives are safe and only become dangerous when administered by someone who isn’t trained or qualified to perform the procedure. Under the supervision of an expert dentist specially trained to perform intravenous sedation, anti-anxiety benzodiazepines like Midazolam and Diazepam can effectively make the patient relaxed, with the addition of pain-killing opioids to make the experience even more comfortable for the patient. If sleep-inducing barbiturates need to be given, the patient will be closely monitored as these could slow down the breathing and heart rate.

Apart from the pain from the actual dental procedure, which will be numbed out by the local anesthesia, sedation is not known to be a source of any adverse side effects. Conditions such as allergies, pregnancy, alcohol intoxication and high tolerance for sedative drugs should be disclosed to the dentist to avoid any contraindications.

For safe, effective and reliable deep sedation to give you those stress-free treatments, visit Dr. Santa Cruz dentist Robert Matiasevich, Jr.’s Smile with Confidence clinic in California. Call 831-440-7577 for an appointment with Dr. Matiasevich Jr., a Santa Cruz implant dentist who specializes in intravenous sedation for patients availing of teeth-in-an-hour and mini-dental implants.

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