Sedation

Options include nitrous oxide or laughing gas that you inhale through a small mask fitting comfortably over your nose and which takes effect extremely quickly. You will feel more relaxed soon after inhaling nitrous oxide, and we can adjust the dosage as needed during treatment. Once turned off, the gas is quickly eliminated from the body. Laughing gas is the only form of sedation where you can drive yourself home after your appointment. Another solution is a sedative taken in pill form shortly before treatment begins. Sometimes oral sedation and laughing gas are combined to provide the right level of sedation.

Intravenous sedation is deeper and is administered through a vein in your arm or hand throughout treatment and is sometimes called sleep or twilight dentistry as you might fall asleep during treatment. Although you may feel very relaxed and sleepy, you will still be able to respond to our dental team if needed. Intravenous sedation is suitable for patients who feel more anxious or who might need lengthier or complicated treatments. The sedative also has an amnesiac effect, so you are unlikely to remember anything about the procedure. With this treatment, we can often complete more procedures during a single appointment, safe in the knowledge that you are relaxed and comfortable during the procedure.

We screen every patient wishing to have sedation dentistry very carefully, making sure treatment is appropriate and most importantly is as safe as possible. During treatment, we will monitor you very closely and will keep you with us a short while afterwards to ensure you have recovered sufficiently to go home. We have a specialist anesthetist on our dental team who tailors every sedation treatment as required, whether you need light or deep sedation.