Dental Intravenous Anesthesia, is sometimes known as Intravenous sedation or “Twilight Sedation”, for dental procedures. IV sedation will help keep calm and comfortable while having your dental treatments.
IV sedation will keep you relaxed throughout your dental appointment, you won’t even remember much is any of the procedure. Alleviating all anxiety, just drifting in about of a twilight type sleep.
How is IV dental sedation administered?
A very thin needle is administered into a vein in your hand or arm. The needle will be attached to a tube with medication than will make you feel calm and relaxed. While you may feel like you are in a twilight sleep, you don’t actually go to sleep. You will be able to breath on your own and answer any questions the dentist may have.
Because of the intravenous nature, the anesthesia is tailored to the desires and needs of the patient. IV sedation is very safe when administered by a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), who will administer the medication and monitor all the patients vital signs and breathing throughout the procedure.
It can be difficult for children and those with disabilities to get the proper dental care they need, but are we protecting our children when it comes to sedation?
The safety of IV sedation has recently come into question. Certainly, you want to do everything in your power to ensure your safety, or the safety of your loved one. Complications are more likely to occur when the dentist who is drilling teeth or even performing a root canal, is also doing the sedation. Both these procedures require 100 percent of an especially trained individual attention for the safest situation.
As a parent, I was very concerned about having my daughter sedated for the dental work she needed. After all, the last couple of years there have been several questions raised about the safety of IV sedation for pediatric dentistry. Following a traumatic episode at the dentist a couple of years ago, my daughter now has severe anxiety.
Check back with us next week for what I learned about IV sedation. Until then, contact Blue Sky Anesthesia Associates.
