Sedation Dentistry

Sedation dentistry refers to the use of pharmacological agents to calm and relax a patient prior to and during a dental appointment and it has become very popular because it offers several benefits for both the patient and the dentist. The pharmacological agents typically belong to sedatives. Sedatives exert action by depressing the central nervous system, especially those areas concerned with conscious awareness. There are different degrees and ranges of central nervous system depression, from minimal, moderate, to deep sedation. For example, a patient who has reduced anxiety but is readily responds to verbal or physical stimulation, needs minimal sedation. Moderate sedation refers to purposeful stimulation, and in deep sedation, the patient may not show any signs of consciousness. Sedation by pharmacologic methods is obtained by two general routes, which are the enteral rout and the parenteral rout. The enteral route, lines the alimentary canal from oral cavity, thorough to digestive tract, ending in the rectum, and it includes medications that are either swallowed or absorbed through the mucosa of the oral cavity, or inserted rectally. The other rout is the parenteral rout which involves the adminstrarion of sedative drugs other than absorption across enteric membranes, and includes intravenous, inhalation, intramuscular and submucosal administration, among others. Sometimes sedation is praised as the solution for overcoming dental anxiety or phobia. But, many people don’t like the idea of sedation.