Nervous/IV sedation

This type of sedation is very safe and effective and leaves most patients drowsy for the rest of the day.  It produces amnesia (loss of memory) during the treatment and this means normally the patient feels that the time spent under the sedation was shorter than it actually was. 

Intravenous sedation is not a replacement to general anaesthetic.  At no time is the patient unconscious during the procedure. They will respond to commands from the clinical staff and may even hear the conversation taking place.  This may not be recalled afterwards due to amnesia.

The anaesthetist administers one or more drugs into the vein to induce conscious sedation.  The amount of drug varies according to the individual patient’s needs and their weight.  It is accompanied by a local anaesthetic injected to the area being treated in the mouth and this is the main reason why the patient will not feel any pain during the treatment.

The patient is constantly monitored throughout the procedure.

Patient’s suitability for intravenous sedation is not always predictable beforehand and will only become apparent once the procedure starts. Treatment on unsuitable patients will normally be stopped as it is not in their best interest for us to continue.  Such patients would probably require a general anaesthetic and they would need to be referred to a hospital.