Levels of IV sedation

[DP]

Several months ago I went to have 3 fillings under sedation and when I came round I was told that I had only had one filling done as I kept coming round and the dentist said she couldn't give me any more sedation.


I have had sedation several times in the past including an extraction which went wrong at my dentist when the tooth broke. She sent me to an emergency dentist for sedation and he finished the job. I have never before been told that I cannot remain 'under' on the amount of sedation given. I was told to go to a dental hospital in Harlow for a general anesthesia and of course have made no efforts to do so.


Are there varying degrees of sedation that can be given according to a level of qualification and if so is your practice able to provide a greater level of sedation?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

There are varying levels of IV sedation. Single drug IV sedation which most dentists use relies on Midazolam to provide sedation and this is usually most suitable for short procedures of upto 1 hour.

Multi drug IV sedation which is what we use in our clinic is provided by a specialist anaesthetist and we can provide IV sedation for much longer periods. We usually carry our procedures of 3-4 hours under multi-drug IV sedation and the patients are deeply sedated for that period.