Delivering Sedation in Dentistry

It has become increasing popular to deliver sedation to patients receiving dental work. Sedation is defined as the deliberate drug-induced depression of consciousness used to reduce anxiety and awareness associated with unpleasant medical procedures. Sedation is used to reduce anxiety.  In some cases dentists or oral surgeons deliver both the dental work and the sedation, while in others there is a separate anesthesiologist to do so. One should always verify proper training and license prior to undertaking any sedation from a healthcare professional. Sedation is generally considered very safe as long as it is performed by an appropriately trained practitioner in a monitored environment. Sedation dentistry uses different approaches depending on personal choice and comfort. In the order of increasing anesthesia these are local anesthesia, minimal sedation, nitrous oxide/oxygen, moderate (conscious) sedation, deep sedation, and general anesthesia. A more thorough discussion … Read more

Can You Use Nitrous Oxide Inhalation combined with Propofol Sedation for Dental Treatment?

An interesting article titled “A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial of Conscious Sedation Using Propofol Combined With Inhaled Nitrous Oxide for Dental Treatment” written by Chizuko Yokoe and et al. appears in the 2015 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery (issue 73, pp. 402-409). The article discusses how propofol is one of the most common sedative agents used during dental procedures. However, when used by itself it can lead to adverse complications in patients. The authors set to explore if you can safely combine nitrous oxide with propofol for dental procedures and also improve the quality of the sedation. A total of 90 patients in Osaka, Japan were used in this study. All patients were between 20 and 70 years of age and were not able to undergo their procedure without the use of sedation. After the patients were seated in … Read more