Dental IV Sedation
Discussion
I’ve got some gum infection which resulted in a visit to the dentist. An X-ray has revealed one of my lower wisdom teeth must come out as. Some antibiotics for my gums and I was sent on my way for now.
I have to take vallies before any dental work so my dentist being aware of this has suggested that I get some IV sedation to get this tooth removed.
Is what it is and needs done. Can anyone offer their experiences of this treatment? Slightly bricking the thought of them chiselling at my jaw whilst awake!!
I have to take vallies before any dental work so my dentist being aware of this has suggested that I get some IV sedation to get this tooth removed.
Is what it is and needs done. Can anyone offer their experiences of this treatment? Slightly bricking the thought of them chiselling at my jaw whilst awake!!
Yes - take sedation.
May 2017, around 10:00, I had an upper wisdom tooth out and all I remember is complaining about my lower back spasm (from Jan-May 2017), the nurse said "Oh don't worry, this will sort that out."
Not too sure how much later (maybe 30 mins?) I was in the recovery room - no back pain to speak of and minus a wisdom tooth - and was badgering the poor nurse for drugs to take home. My father chuckles whenever I mention the sedation aspect of my wisdom tooth removal as apparently I was talking absolute nonsense all the way home.
I woke up at around 15:00 later that day with not a clue how I'd got home or got into bed as I couldn't remember anything.
Zero memories of pain and discomfort.
100% do it.
May 2017, around 10:00, I had an upper wisdom tooth out and all I remember is complaining about my lower back spasm (from Jan-May 2017), the nurse said "Oh don't worry, this will sort that out."
Not too sure how much later (maybe 30 mins?) I was in the recovery room - no back pain to speak of and minus a wisdom tooth - and was badgering the poor nurse for drugs to take home. My father chuckles whenever I mention the sedation aspect of my wisdom tooth removal as apparently I was talking absolute nonsense all the way home.
I woke up at around 15:00 later that day with not a clue how I'd got home or got into bed as I couldn't remember anything.
Zero memories of pain and discomfort.
100% do it.
I have got a massive phobia about dental work and a dreadful gag-reflex. The only way for me to even contemplate dental work is under mild sedation - from what I understand it's Valium or Valium based All I can say is that whilst I may not actually look forward to a visit to the dentist it does mean that I'm not a quivering wreck! HIGHLY recommended
k whilst having it done but you won't remember it. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt at the time.Had this a couple of times. Book it for a Friday if you can as you’ll not be capable of much the next day, certainly not working. Make sure you’ve got a relative to drive you to/from the dentist, some won’t do this at all unless you’ve either got a car or taxi to get home in.
In terms of the experience, you get the injection, a couple of minutes later the dentist might ask how you are and seconds later you smack your head on the chair & fall asleep. You wake up a bit later after it’s all done. Your mouth will still feel the same as it would if you’d been awake, but the actual work itself should be either blank or a vaguely pleasant blur (I know that sounds odd but it’s true). Expect to go straight to bed when you get home and sleep for hours, but you’ll be able to eat when you wake up. Expect to be a bit out of sorts for the rest of the day but more normal the following day. My dentist described it as being like you’ve had a bit too much to drink and that’s reasonably accurate I guess.
Good luck & I’m sure it’ll go fine
In terms of the experience, you get the injection, a couple of minutes later the dentist might ask how you are and seconds later you smack your head on the chair & fall asleep. You wake up a bit later after it’s all done. Your mouth will still feel the same as it would if you’d been awake, but the actual work itself should be either blank or a vaguely pleasant blur (I know that sounds odd but it’s true). Expect to go straight to bed when you get home and sleep for hours, but you’ll be able to eat when you wake up. Expect to be a bit out of sorts for the rest of the day but more normal the following day. My dentist described it as being like you’ve had a bit too much to drink and that’s reasonably accurate I guess.
Good luck & I’m sure it’ll go fine
Definitely go for the iv sedation. I'd never had it before but I needed a lower left wisdom tooth extracted last month. My dentist took one look at the x-rays and said I'm not touching that, curved roots and broken off top.
Referred me to another dentist who specialises. Sat in the chair, tiny line in the arm and the next thing I knew I was in the waiting room over an hour later, all done and no memory of it at all.
Steve.
Referred me to another dentist who specialises. Sat in the chair, tiny line in the arm and the next thing I knew I was in the waiting room over an hour later, all done and no memory of it at all.
Steve.
IV sedation is brilliant. I run a clinic one day a week for oral surgery with sedation and patients love it. As for the usual ignorant comments above mentioning you'll be in pain; you'll receive the same amount of local anaesthetic as if you weren't be sedated. Yes it's uncomfortable but it shouldn't be painful. At the end of the day you're having a bit of your body amputated! Imagine trying to pull a screw out of a brick but the dentist has no way of telling how solid the brick is or the screw for that matter. Solid screw+crumbly brick and the dentist is now the best dentist ever. Rusty fragile screw and solid brick and suddenly the same dentist is the worst dentist walking the planet. Perhaps all you PHers should go back to school, get top GCSEs, then go to college and get top marks in your A levels, do a gruelling 5 years at dental school then you can all make it look so easy and deliver perfect, painless dental care for pennies.
I had conscious sedation to remove the last molar, lower jaw before the wisdom teeth appear, now this tooth is deeply embedded, wisdoms are not so deep.
I was out like a light for the whole procedure, very restfull in fact, apparently their was a cheer when the last bit came out. I swear there was a boot imprint in my forehead as I don't remember anything.
I wouldn't worry about it but do have someone with you as you will be a bit groggy afterwards, best of luck.
If these are upper wisdoms, after the op do not sneeze as the teeth can penetrate into the sinuses causing problems.
I was out like a light for the whole procedure, very restfull in fact, apparently their was a cheer when the last bit came out. I swear there was a boot imprint in my forehead as I don't remember anything.
I wouldn't worry about it but do have someone with you as you will be a bit groggy afterwards, best of luck.
If these are upper wisdoms, after the op do not sneeze as the teeth can penetrate into the sinuses causing problems.
cringle said:
IV sedation is brilliant. I run a clinic one day a week for oral surgery with sedation and patients love it. As for the usual ignorant comments above mentioning you'll be in pain; you'll receive the same amount of local anaesthetic as if you weren't be sedated. Yes it's uncomfortable but it shouldn't be painful. At the end of the day you're having a bit of your body amputated! Imagine trying to pull a screw out of a brick but the dentist has no way of telling how solid the brick is or the screw for that matter. Solid screw+crumbly brick and the dentist is now the best dentist ever. Rusty fragile screw and solid brick and suddenly the same dentist is the worst dentist walking the planet. Perhaps all you PHers should go back to school, get top GCSEs, then go to college and get top marks in your A levels, do a gruelling 5 years at dental school then you can all make it look so easy and deliver perfect, painless dental care for pennies.
If referring to me, I didn't say 'you'd be in pain', my point being that you wouldn't remember being in pain if there was any. Which doesn't make the actual procedure any less enjoyable.I'm saying all this having not had IV sedation ever but no dentist or other professional has yet to clarify what sort of pain you feel during IV sedation, given that anesthetic doesn't work particularly well on me. And anesthetic is the sole pain reliever as far as I understand.
During Covid restrictions Sedation wasn't available so I had the choice of waiting many months or having jaw surgery under local anaesthetic. I needed the work done so knuckled down and went for it under local anaesthetic.
Trust me - you WANT that sedation. All reports are that it's extremely effective, so don't fret about it. You should be absolutely fine.
Trust me - you WANT that sedation. All reports are that it's extremely effective, so don't fret about it. You should be absolutely fine.
IV sedation is brilliant, I’ve had it a couple of times. The line goes into your hand, you feel the strange sensation of the magic stuff going in and then next thing you know you’re at home with no memory of what happened.
My wife went with me both times and drove me home. Be warned though - apparently I was chatting the nurses up, much to their (and my wife’s) amusement haha.
My wife went with me both times and drove me home. Be warned though - apparently I was chatting the nurses up, much to their (and my wife’s) amusement haha.
Thought I’d update this one as today was the day
At a pre sedation appointment the dentists advised that two wisdom teeth would be coming out instead of one. Is what it is I suppose
At the appointment I got the IV line in my arm and the next thing is I recall being stitched up. Then finally waking up in my bed.
I was in the chair for best part of two hours. Not sure what wasn’t going to plan but I’ll ask when they phone tomorrow
If anyone is wondering about having Iv sedation. Best thing ever. I
At a pre sedation appointment the dentists advised that two wisdom teeth would be coming out instead of one. Is what it is I suppose
At the appointment I got the IV line in my arm and the next thing is I recall being stitched up. Then finally waking up in my bed.
I was in the chair for best part of two hours. Not sure what wasn’t going to plan but I’ll ask when they phone tomorrow
If anyone is wondering about having Iv sedation. Best thing ever. I
muscatdxb said:
Personally it would freak me out to not be in control.
Dental pain isn’t that bad. I haven’t had any wisdom teeth out but I’ve had 4 teeth out, root canals and implants and it’s generally the idea of it that’s worse than the actual work.
Sadly although you're right I just can't go with the logicDental pain isn’t that bad. I haven’t had any wisdom teeth out but I’ve had 4 teeth out, root canals and implants and it’s generally the idea of it that’s worse than the actual work.
So with actual dentists in the house, can anyone clarify my previous offering.
If anesthetic doesn't work, you'll feel pain. That's a given. But if you're sedated, do you still feel pain? I'm guessing yes. But you just won't remember it afterwards so everyone who has sedation says it's brilliant because they can't remember the pain. I'm asking because I need to consider sedation if dentists continue to fail with the anesthetic. And I'm on my 4th dentist in 8 years.
Additional question....why doesn't regular anaesthetic work on some people? Is that user error or anatomical differences?
If anesthetic doesn't work, you'll feel pain. That's a given. But if you're sedated, do you still feel pain? I'm guessing yes. But you just won't remember it afterwards so everyone who has sedation says it's brilliant because they can't remember the pain. I'm asking because I need to consider sedation if dentists continue to fail with the anesthetic. And I'm on my 4th dentist in 8 years.
Additional question....why doesn't regular anaesthetic work on some people? Is that user error or anatomical differences?
Actual retired dentist who did a lot of sedation.
First off, the sedation doesn’t stop you being able to communicate if you’re in pain, so we stop and do something about it. You just won’t remember.
As a rule of thumb, local anaesthetic works better on sedated patients. My hunch is that the blood pressure and pulse are lower, so the local doesn’t get washed away as fast as it’s going in.
As for why local isn’t effective on you, might be anatomical differences, so a different technique may help, or it might be you’re more resistant to a specific type of local, so it’d be worth trying different ones.
Hope this helps
There’s a really good website called DentalFearCentral which has a load of useful stuff on the various methods of sedation in dentistry, hope I’m not out of line mentioning it on here.
First off, the sedation doesn’t stop you being able to communicate if you’re in pain, so we stop and do something about it. You just won’t remember.
As a rule of thumb, local anaesthetic works better on sedated patients. My hunch is that the blood pressure and pulse are lower, so the local doesn’t get washed away as fast as it’s going in.
As for why local isn’t effective on you, might be anatomical differences, so a different technique may help, or it might be you’re more resistant to a specific type of local, so it’d be worth trying different ones.
Hope this helps
There’s a really good website called DentalFearCentral which has a load of useful stuff on the various methods of sedation in dentistry, hope I’m not out of line mentioning it on here.
Many thanks.
I probably need to have a molar extracted at some point (my first extraction) and the thought of it is extremely off-putting. I'm not in any pain so I'm putting it off but my dentist reckons at some point it will need doing. Apparently a crown may not work and might end up needing to be extracted anyway so I'd rather have one uncomfortable session rather than several. Not to mention the added cost.
I probably need to have a molar extracted at some point (my first extraction) and the thought of it is extremely off-putting. I'm not in any pain so I'm putting it off but my dentist reckons at some point it will need doing. Apparently a crown may not work and might end up needing to be extracted anyway so I'd rather have one uncomfortable session rather than several. Not to mention the added cost.
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