Oral Conscious Sedation
DR. MARK SWEENEY: A patient undergoing oral conscious sedation usually we give them enough medication that they’re able to take one the night before the appointment so they get a good night’s sleep. We usually schedule these appointments first thing in the morning, have the patient take another tablet an hour before their visit. If they follow that regimen, usually by the time they’re getting here, their significant other or spouse is having to help them get in the front door and back to the treatment room. They’re in a very comfortable sleepy state and we use monitors to monitor not only the oxygen level in their blood, but also their pulse throughout the entire appointment so that we know that they’re in a save state.
We have never had a problem in the 20 years I’ve been using sedation on patients and yet it’s allowed us to treat many, many people who otherwise would not, are so anxious they would not have been able to complete their dentistry in a single visit.