Treatments for anxious patients

At our dental clinic you can undergo dental treatments with anaesthesia. Carefully prepared anaesthesia is completely safe. Our anaesthesiologist and colleagues circumspectly prepare every event of sedation and anaesthesia therefore you have nothing to worry about.

What should you know about dental anaesthesia and sedation?

Dental anaesthesia and sedation are done by an anaesthesiologist and anaesthesiology assistant. Before the treatment the patient needs to fill in a general health questionnaire, which is then evaluated. After this our anaesthesiologist performs an examination, assesses the risks involved, and if your health proves to be adequate, your treatment can be carried out.

What other options are available at our dental clinic besides local anaesthesia?

Our dental clinic offers you three kinds of sedation or anaesthesia:

• conscious sedation
• sedation, general anaesthesia
• deep sedation

When do we recommend dental treatments with anaesthesia?

• in case of extreme anxiety over dental treatments
• if comprehensive dental treatments or oral surgery need to be conducted in a relatively short time
• if you have difficulty keeping your mouth open
• if your pharynx is too sensitive and you have a pronounced gag reflex during dental treatments.

Sedation

With this type of sedation our anaesthesiologist administers the sedatives and painkillers intravenously. Before sedation our anaesthesiologist performs an examination of the patient.

Characteristics of sedation, general anaesthesia:

• during the treatment the patient is asleep and therefore unable to communicate
• local anaesthesia administered through an injection is necessary
• ideal for comprehensive dental treatments
• at the end of the treatment we cease to administer the drug, and its effect wears off in 15 minutes
• a two-hour observation follows the treatment in the recovery room of our dental clinic, after which the patient may leave the dentistry
• driving is contra-indicated on the day of the treatment
• the presence of a companion is recommended.

Conscious sedation

During the dental treatment some so-called “laughing gas” is administered through a plastic mask placed over the patient’s nose, which is the mixture of oxygen and nitrous-oxide.

Characteristics of conscious sedation:

• during the treatment the patient is conscious and is able to communicate
• the patient’s dental anxiety is reduced, and they become relaxed
• local anaesthesia administered through an injection is necessary
• ideal for simpler dental treatments
• after the treatment pure oxygen must be inhaled so that the effect of sedation can wear off
• half an hour after the sedation the treatment is followed by a check-up, and then the patient can leave the clinic.

Deep sedation

The precondition of this type of sedation is that the patient should be in good general health. Before deep sedation our anaesthesiologist performs a thorough examination of the patient.

Before deep sedation the anaesthesiologist questions the patient thoroughly about their actual general health, their previous illnesses, medications taken presently or previously, and whether they have had any allergic reactions to anything before. These are very important to know for the anaesthesiologist to be able to decide if anaesthesia can be recommended, and to choose the appropriate anaesthetics. The anaesthesiologist may find it necessary to order a physical examination, blood test and ECG to be performed.

During anaesthesia the anaesthesiologist and the anaesthesiology assistant monitor the patient’s vital signs continuously. To monitor blood pressure, they place a blood pressure cuff on the patient’s arm. A clip is attached to the patient’s finger to monitor the oxygen level in their blood, and ECG patches are put on their chest.

Characteristics of deep sedation:

• the patient is asleep, thus unable to communicate during the treatment
• during the treatment our anaesthesiologist monitors the patient’s vital signs
• there is no need for local anaesthesia administered through an injection
• ideal for comprehensive, serious dental treatments or oral surgery
• at the end of the treatment anaesthesia is stopped, and if necessary, some medication is administered to wake the patient up
• after the treatment the patient is monitored in the recovery room for a few hours, after which they can leave the clinic
• driving on the day of the treatment is contra-indicated
• the presence of a companion is recommended.