Intravenous Sedation (IV Sedation)
Our office offers our patients the option of Intravenous Sedation (conscious or deep sedation) for their dental treatment. Intravenous sedation or “IV sedation” is designed to better enable you to undergo your dental procedures while you are very relaxed; it will enable you to tolerate as well as not remember those procedures that may be very uncomfortable for you. IV sedation will essentially help alleviate the anxiety associated with your treatment. Depending on the type of IV sedation chosen, you may not always be asleep but you will be comfortable, calm and relaxed, drifting in and out of sleep – a “twilight sleep”.
If you choose the one of the varieties of intravenous sedation (conscious or deep sedation) your IV sedation is administered and monitored by the doctor therefore eliminating the costly expense of having your treatment carried out in an operating room or same day surgical facility.
How is the IV sedation administered?
A thin needle will be introduced into a vein in your arm or hand. The needle will be attached to an intravenous tube through which medication will be given to help you relax and feel comfortable. At times a patient’s vein may not be maintainable, in these situations the medications will be administered and the needle retrieved – both scenarios will achieve the same desired level of conscious sedation. Some patients with medical conditions and/or on specific drug regimens may only be lightly sedated.
The goal of IV sedation is to use as little medication as possible to get the treatment completed. It is very safe, much safer than oral sedation. With IV sedation a constant “drip” is maintained via the intravenous tube. At any time an antidote can be administered to reverse the effects of the medications if necessary.
There are many advantages to using IV Sedation
- Reduces anxiety and stress associated with dental treatment
- You will remember little or nothing about the procedure
- It enables the clinician to undertake the procedure with greater ease and safety