sedation

What to Ask the Dentist Before Children Have Sedation

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In July of 2017, Today ran a nice piece titled “9 questions to ask your dentist before your kids go under sedation,” written by Linda Caroll, July 10, 2017. The article discusses some recent children dental deaths that occurred in the last few years. If you have been on teethremoval.com before, you know that many cases like these have been covered in the past and you can see more on http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html and http://www.teethremoval.com/dental_deaths.html. The article says that doctors from the American Academy of Pediatrics are speaking out about the dangers of sedating children for oral surgery. It is said that it is unclear how many children or adults for that matter, have died in the U.S. during dental procedures. However, some work by the Dallas Morning News in 2015, indicates a dental patient dies nearly every other day in the U.S. The state … Read more

Are There Differences in Complications After Wisdom Teeth Surgery Depending on the Sedation Received?

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An interesting article titled “Complications of Moderate Sedation Versus Deep Sedation/General Anesthesia for Adolescent Patients Undergoing Third Molar Extraction” appears in the 2016 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery written by Gino Inverso and et al. (vol. 74, pp. 474-479).  The authors set out to determine if there is any difference in complications occurring after wisdom teeth surgery when patients are given either moderate sedation or deep sedation. For patients undergoing wisdom teeth surgery they may have some say in what level of sedation they receive and it may also be based on the desires of the surgeon. Specifically the authors examined the complications resulting from moderate sedation versus deep sedation/general anesthesia for adolescent patients undergoing wisdom teeth extraction. They sought to determine if any differences in complication risk exist between the two levels of sedation. The authors explored a database commissioned by the the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons … Read more

Using Dexmedetomidine For Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Sedation Protocol Using Dexmedetomidine for Third Molar Extraction” appears in the 2016 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery written by Dae-Seung Ryu and et. al. (vol. 74, pp. 926.e1-926.e7). The article seems to determine a sedation protocol for dexmedetomidine. The authors state that IV sedation is often given in cases of wisdom teeth surgery with midazolam being a medication commonly used. When midazolam is combined with opioids it can cause respiratory depression. Dexmedetomidine is an alpa2-agonist acting on adrenoceptors in many tissues, including those in the nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems. Compared with midazolam, the major advantage of dexmedetomidine is its minimal effect on the respiratory system. It also produces an analgesic effect which can help alleviate the sensation of pain after tooth extraction. The authors set out to study the pain, patient satisfaction, sedation depth, and adverse effects after wisdom teeth extraction using dexmedetomidine and to compare IV and intranasal (IN) routes of administration. The … Read more

Overcoming fear of the dentist’s chair

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It’s something that most of us experience through our childhood, yet for some of us this also expands as we grow older. Whatever group you fall into, it’s time to overcome your fear of the dentist once and for all. Some of you will have already tried all sorts of tricks to beat it. It may have been scheduling appointments at slightly different times, with evening dentists in Northampton sometimes reporting an increase in the number of nervous patients during this period for that very reason. In truth, the options available to you are endless and we’ll now mull over some of the best ways in which you can overcome your fear of the dentist’s chair for good. Make the most of your first visit It might “feel” like the hardest visit, but in actual fact your first visit to … Read more

Does Midazolam Impact the Recovery Room Stay for Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Does Intravenous Midazolam Dose Influence the Duration of Recovery Room Stay Following Outpatient Third Molar Surgery?” appears in the 2015 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery written by Kyle S. Ettinger and et al. (vol. 73, pp. 2287-2293). Midazolam is very commonly used for patients undergoing wisdom teeth surgery and the authors set out to determine if it impacts the length a patient stays in the recovery room. Intravenous (IV) midazolam has a rapid onset of effect, short duration of action, minimal impact on cardiac function, minimal effect on respiratory depression, and it produces anterograde amnesia. Some more recent literate has shown that IV midazolam might be associated with prolonged recovery time for oral surgery. Midazolam can cause postoperative cognitive impairment. The study used patients who had all four wisdom teeth removed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota between the ages of 14 and 29. The … Read more