What does conscious sedation consist of?
In recent years, work has been done on the development of various procedures aimed at making the visit to the dentist more pleasant and less uncomfortable, one of them being conscious sedation.
Intravenous conscious sedation is a technique that is applied, as the expression itself says, intravenously, and its objective is to facilitate the relaxation of patients.
Conscious sedation in dentistry is indicated mainly for those people who have a high level of stress, fear and anxiety when going to the dentist for treatment.
The truth is that among all the types of sedation in dentistry, conscious sedation is a great incentive for certain people to decide to go to a clinic and take care of their oral health properly.
This type of sedation will allow the patient to remain conscious during the whole process. In addition, at the same time, the patient will be completely relaxed, avoiding any concern and providing a sense of well-being.
The difference between conscious sedation and general anesthesia dentist is that the objective of the latter is to achieve the temporary loss of touch and pain in a specific area. In other words, the purpose of local anesthesia is to desensitize a specific area of the body.
Does conscious sedation hurt?
When it comes to dental surgery, one might think that conscious sedation hurts, but nothing could be further from the truth.
An anesthesiologist provides conscious sedation medications through an intravenous line. These will mean that the conscious patient feels no pain at all during the dental surgery or treatment in question.
The patient will be deeply relaxed.
Thanks to this technique, the patient will have a quick recovery and during the same act of the surgical intervention. In addition, the patient will be given medications that will prevent inflammation and pain after dental surgery.
It should be pointed out that this is a very safe procedure for the patient, since he/she will be monitored at all times to watch his/her vital signs and will be under control at all times.
Treatments for which sedation is recommended
The truth is that conscious sedation can be applied in any treatment that generates anxiety in the patient.
However, it is most commonly used as sedation for dental implants during surgery .
Remember that conscious sedation requires a high degree of specialty, which is why not all dental clinics can offer this service.
These types of sedation in dentistry must be carried out by a specialized office, equipped with very specific equipment. For this, it is essential to have the presence of an anesthesiologist throughout the dental treatment.
There are other sedatives in dentistry that, depending on the intervention, may be more appropriate, for example, in the case of small children, dental needle-free anesthesia.
Therefore, as a general rule, conscious sedation is most commonly used in treatments that involve a more complex intervention, such as oral and maxillofacial surgery, or those that are less complicated, such as dental implants, but also require greater dedication during the intervention.
Medications used in the dentist for conscious sedation
To achieve a state of well-being and relaxation in the patient, we can use conscious sedation medication. For this we can apply a single drug or a combination of these.
The application of more or less medication will depend on factors such as duration of treatment, patient characteristics and stress level.
In the case of conscious sedation in dentistry, Triazolam is usually used. It is a benzodiazepine whose effect begins to take effect after 15 minutes, and reaches its peak of effectiveness after 60 minutes.
Other drugs used for this technique in specialized dental clinics are Lorazepam, Diazepam or Midazolam, as well as Propofol, the most widely used anesthetic currently used for intravenous administration.
