Are you afraid of the dentist?
If you are nervous or worried in any way, you are not alone. And you’ll be relieved to hear that we can help.
Over half of the UK population suffer from fear or anxiety about visiting the dentist. This can range from a slight nervousness to full-blown panic attacks.
We understand how difficult it can be for anxious and phobic patients to visit the dentist. Dental sedation can help people to overcome their fear and relax during their visit to the dentist.
Dental sedation is also known as ‘conscious sedation’ or ‘twilight sleep’. Your dentist administers a sedative called Midazolam which relaxes you and makes the whole process more pleasant. Our sedation patients often fall asleep during treatment and once we’ve finished ask when we are going to begin!
We initially see you to complete a medical questionnaire and discuss the treatment in detail. This is normally carried our by our sedation nurse, Lisa Pattison.
For patients who are too nervous to come to the surgery we can arrange a video consultation to introduce ourselves before your first visit.
Dental sedation is extremely safe and the effects have totally worn off after 24 hours.
The sedative causes short term amnesia. This means that most patients don’t remember the period after the sedative is administered and so they don’t remember the dental treatment being done.
Our sedation dentist, Stephen, administers the sedation and monitors you throughout the procedure. One of our sedation nurses stays with you at all times to monitor the effects of the sedative and to make sure you’re comfortable.
Giving the sedation only takes a few minutes. We keep you in the surgery for 1 hour after we’ve given the sedation. This is often just long enough to complete your dental procedure. We then check that you’re feeling back to normal and discharge you.
No, for 24 hours after the sedative is administered it is important not to drive. Although you’ll feel back to normal as you leave the practice the sedative lingers in your system for up to 24 hours. For that reason we ask you not to drive, operate machinery, look after children or sign legal documents for 24 hours after the sedative has been given.
Yes, you need to have a responsible adult to take you to the appointment, to wait nearby during the procedure and to take you home afterwards.