Sedation For Nervous Patients

For those patients who are particularly anxious about dental procedures we offer Oral or Intravenous sedation, both of which are safe procedures enabling the patient to relax and feel at ease during treatment.

Once administered it usually takes three to five minutes to be fully effective. The drug also affects the short term memory and so patients cannot remember much about the visit. This makes the procedure much safer than a general anaesthetic.

For oral sedation, Temezapam is usually prescribed one hour before the procedure, to “calm the nerves”. For intravenous sedation, Midazolam is administered intravenously in the back of the hand or arm. This produces some sleepiness or drowsiness but at all times the patient is conscious.

When the treatment is complete, the effects of the sedation will last for about 24 hours, therefore it is necessary to have someone with you at all times. The patient will also be unable to drive, drink alcohol, or operate machinery until the effects of the sedation have worn off.