Sedation is an integral part of dentistry. With sedation dentistry services, patients need not worry about anxiety and pain during invasive treatments. It’s an essential part of many dental procedures, but for your safety, it is important to learn about the dental sedation side effects to better prepare for dental treatment.
What to Expect with Sedation Dentistry Services
Sedation dentistry ensures that patients are safe and have a more satisfying dental experience. With the ability of sedation dentistry to help calm anxious or difficult patients, dentists can perform complex and lengthy dental procedures with ease.
For specialty dental services they provide sedation in 3 significant ways, which include:
Inhalation Sedation
This type of sedation uses nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, which is a mild sedative inhaled with a bit of oxygen. It makes the patient calm by providing full-body relaxation and slight lightheadedness.
Oral Sedation
Oral sedation administers a sedative in the form of a pill, which provides mild sedation for less complex procedures. Patients take medicine an hour or so before the procedure, allowing them to feel a sense of calm.
Intravenous Sedation
In this method, patients take medicine injected directly into the bloodstream. It is much more effective than oral sedation with immediate and substantial effects.
Each method comes with pros and cons, as well as accompanying dental sedation side effects. If you have anxiety or other conditions that make seeing a dentist difficult, sedation dentistry could be the perfect option for you. But before that, take the time to understand what this process involves.
Dental Sedation Side Effects
The effects of sedation differ from one person to another. However, a general description is that sedation makes you feel relaxed or drowsy. So when the medicine takes effect, you will slowly forget about your stress, anxiety, or negative emotions. But what about side effects? What dental sedation side effects should you be prepared to deal with?
The most common side effects of sedation include:
- Drowsiness
- Headache
- Sluggishness
- Low blood pressure
- Slow reflexes
- Nausea
- Temporary blurred vision
Several factors affect the dental sedation side effects, such as the type of sedative and specific factors of the patient. For that reason, not every patient will experience the side effects mentioned above. Also, the adverse effects of dental sedation generally do not last long, so you don’t have to worry too much.
There are also more severe side effects of dental sedation you must watch out for, such as:
- Severe skin irritation
- Difficulty in breathing
- Rapid heartbeat or tachycardia
- Vomiting
If you experience any of these symptoms, call your dentist or head to the dental office right away.
So What About Kids?
One thing you probably also wonder is if the dental sedation side effects mentioned here are the same for kids. Children can also experience the symptoms mentioned above, although the effects may be a bit stronger due to their smaller bodies. For instance, a child may become sleepier, or the effects could last longer compared to adults. They will likely need a day or two before it completely wears off.
Once the sedative or anesthesia wears off, your child will most probably feel some pain where the treatment was. In that case, you need to give them a mild pain relief pill like ibuprofen. If there are any more side effects after a few days, don’t hesitate to talk to your dentist.
Dental Sedation Is Safe
The dental sedation side effects mentioned above are normal. These effects won’t last long, but it’s still good that you know about them in advance. If you want to know more about how sedation dentistry works, call your dentist’s dental office.