Sleep Dentistry
At Sydney Dental Implants, we are continuously adding the most up-to-date procedures to make your dental visits as comfortable as possible. Consequently, we have recently employed an anaesthetist to extend our services in the area of sleep dentistry.
Sleep dentistry, or to use its correct name, intravenous sedation, is a modern technique that takes the fear out of dentistry and makes dental treatment a more pleasant experience. It is suitable for most dental procedures including wisdom teeth extraction and implant surgery. It is also a boon for the treatment of very nervous patients, or those who suffer any of the following:
a dislike of needles;
numbing difficulties;
a dislike of the noises, tastes or smells during treatment;
have a gag reflex;
have jaw problems;
or who need to undergo long treatment sessions.
As an added benefit, using intravenous sedation, more dentistry can be done in one session. This will save the busy patient time and may cut down on the number of visits required to complete treatment.
However, while suitable for most patients, intravenous sedation is a medical procedure. If you are in poor health or are taking certain prescribed medications, you must inform Dr Hocking so that the anaesthesia can be modified to suit your needs. You will be asked to fill out a medical history form before your treatment commences.
Sleep dentistry or intravenous sedation is a very safe procedure. The sedation itself is undertaken by a fully qualified medical specialist who has done extra training in sedation and resuscitation. The intravenous sedation is not done by Dr Hocking because he is too busy carrying out ideal dentistry.
The sedative agents produce amnesia, so that it seems that you have been asleep for the entire procedure. However, you have merely been deeply sedated and not unconscious as you would be under general anaesthesia.
Ask us how you can ‘sleep’ through your next dental visit. We are here to help take the anxiety out of dentistry.
Oral Sedation
Oral sedation is another option for stress free dentistry. The patient is given a tablet such as Halcion (a form of Valium). This medication is very safe and acts in the short term, beginning to wear off after about three hours. Its effect is that the patient becomes very relaxed and a little bit sleepy. The benefit for the patient is that they feel no anxiety, The benefit for Dr Hocking is that the patient is partially awake and able to cooperate and follow any instructions given.
While there are no long-term side effects or after-effects to oral sedation, it is very important that the patient be collected by a friend or family member after the procedure. It is most important that the patient does not attempt to drive home.
There is no extra cost to having oral sedation and it is a very useful adjunct to longer treatment plans.
So, in summary, the choice is to have local anaesthetic, oral sedation or intravenous enhanced sedation. Dr Hocking will discuss these three options with you at the time of your initial consultation. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions about these options. We will happily provide you with information online or send you brochures.