Dental anxiety can make even straightforward treatment difficult. Conscious sedation uses medication to reduce anxiety and help suitable patients feel calmer and more comfortable while dental treatment is carried out.
• Patients with significant dental anxiety or dental phobia.
• Patients who have previously struggled to complete treatment because of fear or distress.
• Patients with a pronounced gag reflex.
• Patients undergoing lengthy or complex procedures where relaxation may improve tolerance.
• Selected patients who find it difficult to remain comfortable during prolonged treatment.
Smile Solutions offers adult intravenous conscious sedation administered by a visiting consultant anaesthetist from Sedation Solutions.
Intravenous sedation is delivered through a vein and the dose can be adjusted according to the patient’s response. The intention is to create a relaxed, monitored state while maintaining conscious responsiveness rather than providing general anaesthesia.
Sedation reduces anxiety and awareness but does not replace local anaesthesia. Dental procedures that would normally require local anaesthetic still require appropriate numbing of the treatment area.
The combination of local anaesthesia and conscious sedation can allow anxious patients to undergo treatment in a more controlled and comfortable way.
1. Assessment – medical history, medications, previous sedation or anaesthetic experiences and the proposed dental treatment are reviewed.
2. Pre-operative instructions – the sedation team provides instructions about eating, drinking, medications, clothing, escort arrangements and other preparation.
3. Intravenous access and monitoring – sedation is administered and appropriate physiological monitoring is used.
4. Dental treatment – the planned procedure is completed while the patient remains in a sedated, monitored state.
5. Recovery – the patient is observed until the team is satisfied that discharge criteria are met.
6. Escorted discharge – a responsible adult must accompany the patient home and follow the post-sedation instructions.
Sedation is a medical procedure and is not suitable for everyone. Medical conditions, medications, pregnancy, alcohol or drug use and other factors may affect eligibility or require additional assessment.
Patients must not drive or operate machinery for 24 hours after intravenous sedation and must have a responsible escort. The specific instructions provided by the sedation team should always take priority.
Sedation can reduce anxiety, make lengthy procedures easier to tolerate and help some patients access dental care that they might otherwise avoid. Many patients have limited memory of the procedure afterwards.
It requires additional assessment, monitoring and recovery arrangements. Patients cannot drive themselves home and must comply with pre- and post-operative instructions. Sedation also does not remove the need to address dental anxiety over the longer term where possible.
Sedation is provided in collaboration with Sedation Solutions, with the visiting sedation clinician working alongside the dental team to support safe, carefully monitored treatment.
Conscious sedation is not the same as general anaesthesia. Patients are very relaxed and may remember little of the procedure, but they remain responsive and are continuously monitored.
No. Suitability depends on medical history, medications, current health and the planned treatment. A formal assessment is required.
Usually, yes. Sedation manages anxiety and awareness; local anaesthetic is used where the dental procedure requires the treatment area to be numb.
No. A responsible adult must escort you, and you should not drive or operate machinery for 24 hours after intravenous sedation.
It can help suitable patients complete treatment, but long-term management of dental anxiety may also involve gradual acclimatisation, communication and other supportive approaches.
Every smile is different, and understanding what you would like to change is the first step. Complete our short form and tell us a little about your concerns, goals or previous dental experiences. A friendly member of the Smile Solutions team will then contact you to discuss your options, answer your questions and help you decide what feels right for you, with no pressure to book.
