As a dentist and physician who specializes in anesthesia, I find myself asking this same question. It seems that many dentists advertise sleep dentistry, as a means for the anxious patient to complete needed dental procedures.
But “sleep dentistry” can be misleading.
To be completely accurate, anesthesia produces a state of consciousness that alters a patient’s physiology, mental awareness and decreases the response to painful stimuli.
The idea that you can sleep through a procedure is not accurate. Remember, when you are asleep at night you remain aroused and will react to pain by waking up.
In dentistry, patients seek sedation services for a variety of reasons – the most common being fear of pain or a gagging reflex or simply the sound of the drill. The level of anesthesia required to produce the desired effect usually requires a careful titration or adjustment of medication.
In my experience, most patients want to have no recall of the procedure and need intravenous administration of a variety of drugs to achieve the desired level of sedation.
This requires specialized training and accreditation.
For patients who simply want to have a sedative/hypnotic drug (like a sleeping pill), I explain that the level of consciousness varies between patients. This technique may work well for the anxious patient, but not so well for phobic patients, children or the medically compromised.
The bottom line is to ask you dentist what kind of anesthesia he/she uses. And for intravenous sedation, make sure that your dentist uses well-trained and board qualified professionals.
Dr. Wyndhamsmith is a dentist and board certified medical doctor specializing in anesthesiology. He received his dental degree from the University of the Pacific Dental School and his medical doctor degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. He is on staff at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center.
For more information, please call 661-291-1412 our visit the office at 23838 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 301 in Valencia.