At Clover Hills Dental, our Surrey dentists provide treatment under oral sedation for our patients who feel anxious or nervous about visiting the dentist. Here’s how the oral sedation process works.
Depending on the dosage,, oral sedation can have a minimal to a moderate sedative effect. With minimal sedation, you’ll take a pill (most often, it’ll be Halcion, which is similar to Valium) about an hour before your dental procedure. With this dosage, you’ll still be fully conscious, though perhaps a bit drowsy.
Moderate sedation, which is more common used in dentistry, requires a larger dose that may make you feel groggy enough to fall asleep during the procedure.
Depending on your needs (which your dentist will discuss with you in detail before the procedure), a variety of single or incremental dose protocols may be used as early as a full day before the dental appointment.
Benefits of Oral Sedatives
Oral sedatives reduce anxiety in patients, and also allow certain procedures to be performed in fewer appointment and even in less overall time. Essentially, they can increase the comfort and efficiency of a dental procedure.
What is the oral sedation process like?
During your consultation appointment, your dentist will discuss your needs and concerns related to your upcoming procedure, and go over your medical history and lifestyle habits (for instance, whether you smoke, drink alcohol regularly, or take any vitamins and supplements).
Based on the data gleaned from this consultation, your dentist will give you a prescription of sedatives to be taken up to a full day before your appointment, or as little as an hour before, or both.
On the day of your appointment, you must have a friend or family member drive you to and from our office, as you should absolutely not drive while under the effects of a sedative.
During your procedure, our team will monitor you carefully to make sure you continue to feel comfortable and relaxed.
After your appointment, your chaperone should drive you straight back home. We recommend you take the rest of the day off of work or school, and that you do not operate any heavy machinery for the next 24 hours.
After your appointment, be sure to drink lots of fluids. Most patients feel no side effects a day after their appointment, and are able to return to their normal daily routines.