Oral sedation is a wonderful option for patients who need more than just nitrous oxide, but don’t need or want IV Sedation or general anesthesia. It allows many people to be minimally sedated through an entire dental visit using just a small pill. Conscious sedation is modern dentistry that lets even the most high fear patient have a relaxing and comfortable dental visit. Since the patient is comfortable, we are able to accomplish the work of several appointments in just one. There are a number of conscious sedation techniques, but they all have certain things in common. While the goal of general anesthesia is for the patient to sleep, in dentistry it is much more common to use conscious sedation, where the patient is minimally sedated and comfortable, yet still awake.
When we use conscious sedation, you don’t really fall asleep, even though sometimes it feels like you did. That’s because minimal sedation feels so relaxing and peaceful that the patient doesn’t even notice the passing of time.