ELMWOOD DENTAL
What is Intravenous conscious sedation?
Kristine has been offering this service for almost 10 years now. It is a great way to ease your dental anxiety.
A medicine Midazolam is used to help you relax and reduce your anxiety about dental treatment. The medication Midazolam is given through a plastic cannula into a vein in your arm.
You may fall asleep during your procedure and you may not remember much. As you relax, your breathing may slow and your blood pressure may reduce a small amount.
We will monitor your breathing, blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen/carbon dioxide levels closely with our patient monitoring machine to ensure you are ok.
We use extra oxygen for you to breathe through the nose.
We also use our normal local anaesthetic into the gums so you feel no pain during your procedure.
ELMWOOD DENTAL
Who is Intravenous sedation ideal for in our practice?
- Patients who suffer from dental anxiety
- Fit and healthy adults or those with mild well controlled medical conditions
- Some children over the age of 12
ELMWOOD DENTAL
Who is not an ideal candidate for sedation at our practice?
- &A history of sleep apnoea or severe snoring
- &Someone who is suffering breathing difficulties or symptoms of a cold or flu
- &Some medications interact with Midazolam – therefore it is very important to inform your dentists of any medications (including recreational drugs) that you are taking and any allergic reactions you may have
- &Alcohol can also interact with Midazolam
- &Significant medical conditions eg: liver or kidney disease
- &Pregnancy or Breastfeeding
- &Hypersensitivity to Benzodiazepine drugs
ELMWOOD DENTAL
What are the risks?
Midazolam can affect your breathing if you are given too much, that is why we pay close attention to giving you a small amount of the drug for optimal effect.
We also have a reversal drug Flumazenil in the room which we can give you. This is very rarely used. This will reverse the effects of the sedation.
- &Drowsiness and confusion are common
- &Problems with movement and memory
- &Increased risk of falls or injury
- &Impaired attention or judgement or inappropriate behaviour can occur
ELMWOOD DENTAL
On the day of the procedure
with you for the rest of the day
water and stop drinking 2 hours before your procedure