Sedation Dentistry

Helping Nervous Patients

At Whickham Dental we pride ourselves on delivering Calm and Gentle Dentistry. We appreciate that some people can be concerned about visiting a dentist, to the extent that they may need additional help to get them all the way through an appointment. We offer intravenous sedation and hypnotherapy to nervous patients to help overcome their fears or phobias.

Should you feel that intravenous sedation is not for you there are other things that can be done to help make your time in the chair more comfortable. All of our dentists have ‘numbing gel’ (topical anaesthetic) available to them and when applied to the gum for as little as 90 seconds it can virtually remove the pain of a dental injection. The needles used are the narrowest available, again meaning less discomfort will be felt during their use. Finally slightly warming the cartridge of local anaesthetic can reduce the feeling further. Feel free to ask about this at your next appointment.

Intravenous sedation is the most commonly used technique to help us carry out routine treatment on anxious or phobic patients, as well as perform minor oral surgery procedures (i.e. wisdom tooth removal, placement of dental implants). It is administered via an injection in the arm or back of the hand, helping the patient to be completely relaxed throughout treatment. Sedation dentistry allows dentists to complete a course of treatment much more quickly than they normally would be able to. Therefore patients who have conditions that require many trips to the dentist receive great benefit from sedation dentistry as it cuts the amount of time and effort they spend in receiving their treatment.The patient remains conscious throughout the treatment but may not remember very much afterwards. A local anaesthetic to numb the area before treatment is still required.

For the dentist sedation dentistry gives them complete control during treatment as patients are more likely to co-operate fully with their dentist, and it also reduces the amount of time and number of sessions that dentists require to carry out their treatments on patients, because more treatment can be administered in a single session.

A detailed medical history will be taken before carrying out the procedure to advise the dentist of any medical conditions or medications currently being taken.

Pre Operative Information:

Patients will be required to attend an assessment appointment to determine their suitability for intravenous sedation. General health including blood pressure, heart rate and weight will be assessed.
A written consent form will be completed and signed.
Ensure you have your regular meals before attending. A light snack 2 hours before the appointment is advisable.
Bring a responsible adult with you to take you home by car or taxi.
Inform the dentist of any changes to your medication.

Post Operative Information:

You will feel drowsy after the treatment and will not be permitted to leave the practice until the dentist permits you to do so.
You will be unable to drive or operate machinery for 24hrs.
We recommend rest and avoiding physical activities such as housework for 24hrs.
Contact the practice on 0191 4887826 if any problems arise.