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Anesthesia and sedation
© Dr. Volker Ludwig anesthesia – what is it?
In general, a distinction is made between anesthesia and sedation in the dental practice. Under general or general anesthesia, the patient’s consciousness and respiratory function are completely switched off. He is artificially ventilated during the treatment, feels nothing, perceives nothing and remembers nothing.
Sedation or analog sedation means calming the patient with medication and reducing the feeling of pain. The patient is put into a kind of half sleep or trance.
What speaks for general anesthesia, what against?
Treatment under general anesthesia is the last option to treat a patient with great fear. General anesthesia is also used for children who refuse treatment or for people who are resistant to treatment.
But even if general anesthesia is part of the daily routine of the clinic and is carried out, it is an intervention in human life functions. That always carries a residual risk.
The alternative – sedation
Calming and anxiety inhibition are generally referred to as analogue sedation. The patients are conscious, but are in a trance. Your fear will be significantly reduced and the duration of treatment will be significantly shorter. After the effect has set in, the patient’s areas to be treated are anesthetized and the dentist can start working.
How is sedation done??
When it comes to sedation, we make a fundamental distinction between sedation with medication via the blood and with a gas that is absorbed through breathing.
Medication can be sedated by taking tablets or by accessing the arm directly into the blood vessel. However, the exact dosage of the active ingredient is a problem. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give exactly the right amount of active ingredient, which is why it takes a long time to wait until treatment can take place. After treatment, the medication will continue to work until the body has broken it down.
Sedation via breathing is therefore a very good alternative. You breathe in oxygen and laughing gas together through a nasal mask. The proportion of laughing gas is only very small and is increased in slow steps until a calming effect sets in. After the dental treatment, you are only supplied with pure oxygen for five minutes until the complete effect of the laughing gas has disappeared again. The effect of sedation can thus be completely controlled and can be canceled at any time within a few seconds.
This article is for general information only, not for self-diagnosis, and is not a substitute for a doctor’s visit. It reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of jameda GmbH.
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