Why Use Dental Sedation

Dental sedation was developed in order to give patients who experience dental anxiety a more comfortable experience when they visit the dentist. As dental anxiety can occur for certain patients for even the most routine of procedures, it has become an important tool for giving patients the care they need.

There are four levels of dental sedation, and the level that is administered generally correlates with the invasiveness of the procedure being done. When our Los Angeles dentists use minimal sedation, it usually comes in the form of nitrous oxide gas. At this level, the patient is relaxed, but still awake. Moderate sedation is given either intravenously or orally, and it may put the patient in the sort of state in which they slur their words and are not able to remember much of the procedure. Deep sedation is given in order to place patients in a state that is on the borderline of consciousness and unconsciousness. General anesthesia is the final level of sedation, and at this point, the patient is totally unconscious. In order to administer sedation at the deep sedation and general anesthesia levels, a special license is required.

If you are letting dental anxiety keep you away from going to the dentist, contact our Los Angeles sedation dentist to schedule a consultation.