Sedatives Used in Sedation Dentistry

Have you been skipping your dental appointments with your Santa Cruz dentist? If your reasons for not going include irrational fears and unexplainable anxiety attacks, then it might be time for you to ask your dentist about sedation dentistry.

Sedation dentistry uses different types of sedatives to help calm a patient who cannot undergo dental treatments due to anxiety attacks or dental fears. The sedatives can be taken in different ways and are effective in keeping nerves and muscles relaxed throughout the dental procedure.

Below are the common types of sedatives used for sedation dentistry:

Oral Sedatives

Oral sedatives are in tablet or pill form and are taken orally like you would any regular medicine or vitamins, except that they are prescribed with a particular dosage.

Intravenous Sedatives

Intravenous or IV sedatives pass through the bloodstream and has a faster effect on calming the muscles and nerves of the patient.

Laughing Gas or Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

Laughing gas is probably the easiest sedative to administer. All the patient needs to do is inhale the gas and within two to three minutes, he will already feel the effect of the sedative.

General Anesthesia

Among the other previously mentioned sedatives, general anesthesia is not really a preferred type and not commonly used in dental clinics, though it can still be an option for severe dental anxiety cases. Using general anesthesia is quite difficult for dentists because the patient will be in a fully unconscious state and therefore cannot reply or answer questions from the dentist.

The dosage of these sedatives can all be adjusted depending on the anxiety level of the patient.

If you have dental anxiety, please get in touch with Dr. Matiasevich, Jr., DDS at 831-440-7577. Dr. Matiasevich offers a variety of options for sedation dentistry treatments.