What type of Anaesthesia do I need for dental implant surgery?

[Leigh]

Hi

I need to have four dental implants placed as I lost my front four teeth after I had a fall whilst on holiday last year. I have seen two dentists and been told about the different implant options that I have available to me and I have decided to have four dental implants.

The dentists that I have seen have offered to freeze the area with Local anaesthetic. However I am worried that I might have pain during the surgery and I would like to know what types of anaesthetic are available to me for the placement of my dental implants. I am not very good with pain, so I would like to have the least painful option.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your post. Dental implant surgery is usually carried out with Local anaesthetic (LA). LA works very well to freeze the surgical site and you should not feel any pain during the procedure.

However some people wish to be sedated during Implant treatment and this is available with IV Sedation. IV sedation provides patients with a more relaxing surgical procedure but you will need to have an escort to take you home after the procedure. As long as IV sedation is carried out by an experienced anaesthetist, the procedure is very safe.

General Anaesthetic (GA) is also occasionally used for implant surgery but this is usually in the hospital environment. GA carries higher risks & costs compared to LA and sedation and so for those reasons, we do not use GA for implant surgery.