How You Can Dream Your Treatment Away With Sedation

There are many reasons why people can be nervous about coming to the dentist, fear of treatment or bad past experiences. There is no need to worry….

Here at Woodborough House, we have a friendly and knowledgeable team that put every effort in to making your dental experience a good one. At your initial consultation there is no pressure. We want people to feel comfortable and this is a good chance to meet the dentist and their team for a chat. If there is anything specific you are worried about you can then make the dentist and team aware for future appointments.

If treatment is required there is no need to panic! Once again there is no pressure. We are lucky enough to be able to provide different forms of very safe and easy to use sedation here at Woodborough house which will make your treatment seem like a breeze.

Sedation comes in many forms. The sedation that we commonly use here is Temazepam. This is a sedation that is administered orally and registered dental care professionals are permitted to administer this to patients under the prescription of the dentist.

Sedation is great if you are nervous as it is very easy to take and it makes the appointment fly past! It doesn’t completely knock you out like a general anaesthetic would. It makes you feel less anxious and sleepy. It eliminates the element of time, but still gives us the opportunity to communicate with you if needed. It will seem like you have only been here 5 minutes when you may have been here several hours.

For this type of sedation we would require you to come in 1 hour before your appointment. This allows plenty of time for the sedation to take full effect. During this time you will be given any post appointment instructions and it gives you time to ask questions to the team. You will then have either a family member or member of staff sit with you until you appointment time is due. During which time you can have a little snooze or read a magazine. The sedation stays in your system for 16-24hours so it gives patients the opportunity to go home and have a good sleep.

The second type of sedation we offer is IV (intravenous) sedation. This sedation is administered by a qualified anaesthetist. We recommend this sedation for extremely nervous patients or patients having long procedures. It is a stronger sedation that the oral temazepam and works quicker.

The advantage of having the IV sedation is that you can just turn up for your appointment time and the sedation is given to you there and then. There are no lasting effects, as the anaesthetist can reverse the effects once the treatment is complete. We usually advise taking it easy for the rest of the day as you can feel a little drowsy for a few hours.

Donny Osman who we use is a very experienced anaesthetist and is able to take you through the procedure with ease. Usually you don’t even remember having the procedure done. Another advantage is that we are able to administer antibiotics and pain relief through the IV as well which gives your body the best possible chance of healing.

Finally, if you are very nervous and feel that neither of the above options are suitable, we can refer you to a hospital for treatment under general anaesthetic. We would only do this as a final option as there are health risks associated with having a general anaesthetic.

As you can see we have lots to offer patients. Even if you are nervous of dental treatment, we can accommodate your needs and make your dental experience as relaxed as possible.

If you have any questions with regards to sedation please don’t hesitate to contact the practice either by phone or email and speak to a member of staff we are always happy to help.