IV Sedation Explained
For lengthy treatment, or for the appointment you have been putting off for years, sedation can change everything. This guide covers what the sedative does, the sensation, your preparation and what to avoid once you get home.
What Does IV Sedation Feel Like at a Broughty Ferry Dentist?
At our practice in Broughty Ferry, a session of IV sedation is priced at £500, and each additional 30 minutes adds £250. You feel settled and sleepy yet can still respond to us, and most people recall only fragments of the visit afterwards. The sedative goes in through a thin cannula in your hand or arm while your pulse, oxygen and breathing are monitored from beginning to end.
What It Feels Like
Within a minute or so of the sedative going in, the worry simply lifts. Patients talk about a heavy, warm, gently floating sensation, something like the moment before you drop off. You can still hear our voices and follow simple requests, turning your head or opening a little wider, yet the noises and the passing of time stop mattering.
Afterwards, most people have only scraps of memory. Sixty minutes of treatment can seem like ten. It is not the same as a general anaesthetic, though: you breathe for yourself throughout and are never unconscious.
Who It Helps Most
- Genuine dental phobia. Including anyone who has kept away for years and now needs a good deal doing.
- Lengthy or surgical work. Single implants, full-arch implants, bone grafting or wisdom teeth, where lying still and relaxed for an hour or two makes life easier for everyone.
- A sensitive gag reflex. Where impressions, scans or treatment on the back teeth repeatedly trigger it.
- Getting it all done together. Combining several procedures into one longer sitting.
Sedation always goes alongside local anaesthetic, which takes care of the numbing. We would not recommend it for a check-up, a hygiene visit or a small filling; for those, taking things at your own speed tends to work better.
Wondering Whether Sedation Is for You?
Come in for a consultation in Broughty Ferry and we will assess whether it is suitable.
How the Sedative Is Given
A slender tube known as a cannula goes into a vein, usually on the back of your hand, sometimes in the crook of your elbow. The brief scratch as it goes in is the only needle you will be aware of. The medicine is introduced gradually until the right level is reached, and more can be given if treatment overruns.
All the while, a trained team keeps watch on your breathing, pulse and oxygen through a clip on your finger and a cuff on your arm. Once you are comfortably sedated, local anaesthetic numbs the area in the normal way, so you are free of pain as well as relaxed.
When a Different Approach Is Better
Not everyone is suited to sedation. At your assessment we go through your general health and any medication. Pregnancy or breastfeeding, particular lung, heart or liver conditions, some medicines, and having nobody to accompany you home are the usual reasons to plan things another way. That could mean shorter appointments with pauses, or spreading treatment over a few days. If anything is on your mind, raise it.
Preparing for Your Appointment
- Eating. Unless told otherwise, have something light to eat two hours or so beforehand. Arriving hungry can leave some people light-headed.
- Medication. Carry on with your normal medicines unless we have told you otherwise.
- An escort home. A responsible adult has to bring you, stay nearby, and then drive you home or share a taxi with you. A bus will not do.
- What to wear. Something loose, with sleeves that push up easily.
- Nail polish. Leave one fingertip at least free of gel or varnish, so the oxygen clip gets a proper reading.
- Drink. No alcohol the evening before.
The Day After
You stay with us until you are steady, then your escort takes you home to rest. The drug dulls your judgement for longer than you would expect, so for a full 24 hours you must not:
- drive, cycle or use machinery
- drink any alcohol
- be solely responsible for small children
- sign anything, send important emails or make significant decisions
By the following day most people feel themselves again. You leave with written instructions and a number to call if concerned.
Cost and How to Book
A session of IV sedation is £500, with £250 for every further 30 minutes, and that sits alongside the fee for the treatment itself. If you are having implants, the sedation assessment is included in your free implant consultation.
Our sedation page sets out which treatments it is most often paired with. If you would prefer to manage without sedation, the dental anxiety guide describes other ways of making appointments more bearable.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.