Conscious sedation is the use of sedation drugs to put patients into a relaxed state while their dentist carries out their treatment. It helps to reduce anxiety, stress, discomfort, and even pain during certain procedures. With conscious sedation, the dentist can concentrate better on the dental procedure since the sedation makes the patient fully co-operative. In the past, there are several other names for conscious sedation, which includes laughing gas, happy air, twilight sleep, happy gas, sleep dentistry.
Conscious Sedation Vs. General Anesthesia
One of the most obvious differences between the two is that the patient under conscious sedation will be mostly still awake while patients on general anesthesia will be almost always fully unconscious. Depending on the type of procedure, either one of them will be given upon request. Conscious sedation is usually used for minor procedures such as dental cleaning and cavity filling, while general anesthesia is reserved for major surgery procedures.
Advantages
- Comfort: For patients who struggle to keep their mouth wide open or suffer from sore jaws or TMJ problems, dental sedation is probably a more comfortable option for them. Patients also tend to feel less tired after a long treatment. Dental sedation such as nitrous oxide is also known to increase a person’s pain threshold so that in some cases, they need little or no anesthetic.
- Fewer appointments: Sedation treatments allows patients to endure longer appointments without feeling exhausted or experiencing the discomfort of having their mouth open wide for a long period of time. It also makes the job of your dentist easier since multiple or complex treatments can be completed in fewer appointments, sometimes even one single visit. This is advantageous for patients who have busy schedules and are unable to go for appointments regularly.
- Better quality of treatments: Many dentists claim that they can perform better quality dental care when their patient is under sedation. Dentists can now fully concentrate on the accuracy and precision instead of worrying about the patients moving or gagging and having to slow down due to the patient experiencing discomfort or speed things up when the patient is getting tired.
- Saves money: Although there may be an added cost for dental sedation, believe or not, you can save money. If sedation results in your doctor completing your treatment in fewer appointments, then the savings in the operational costs by the dental clinic can mean that your fees are reduced.
- In essence you could save more by paying for a dental visit and sedation than you might for more visits and no sedation. Plus, of course, there is also the cost of your time to be considered.
Ready to Visit the Dentist?
Before you get the procedure done, you should make sure that you get all the information about the process. Having an experienced cosmetic dentist perform the procedure will help to ensure that you get the results you want. Check out the testimonials from our satisfied customers. Call Dr. Alex Rubinov at (718) 253-0800 today to make an appointment.