What is General Anaesthesia in Dentistry?

Dental anxiety is extremely common, and most people will feel a little anxious or nervous when seeing a dentist, especially if they think they have a problem or it has been a while since the last dental visit. Some people feel so deeply anxious that they will avoid dental visits until necessary.

However, if you feel this way, there is no need to be concerned as modern dentistry can be a calm, comfortable experience thanks to sleep dentistry. With this treatment, you can rest assured you will be asleep for the duration of treatment. Sleep dentistry and sedation dentistry are often regarded as the same treatment, but they are different.

What is sleep dentistry?

Sleep dentistry uses general anaesthesia, so you are fully asleep during treatment and remain unconscious until treatment is complete. This isn’t the case with sedation dentistry, as you will still be awake. Sleep dentistry can be preferable for anyone with special needs or behavioural issues. It is also nice for anyone requiring extensive and complex surgery, allowing our dentists to complete more treatment during a single appointment.

What is involved in sleep dentistry?

Deciding on sleep dentistry requires a few steps to ensure the process is right for you. The first step is a consultation with one of our dentists to determine the required treatment and how best to deliver that treatment. Sometimes, as noted above, you may want to have sleep dentistry to complete treatment in cases where you may have dental anxiety or even a gag reflex that prevents treatment from being carried out comfortably and in a stress-free manner. The other reason is the complexity of care where sleep ensures you are not moving during delicate processes.

If the decision is made that sleep dentistry is required, then you will need to have a more complex health assessment and must provide a past medical history. The outcome of this assessment will determine if your procedure can be completed in the practice or, in some cases, whether you need to be admitted to a hospital based on your health history. In both cases, the full treatment plan and costs will be fully explained, and a plan will be made to schedule your treatment.

Taking care of you during sleep dentistry

There is always a small risk when providing general anaesthesia, but we take enormous care when screening patients for general anaesthesia to ensure it is as safe as possible and is the most appropriate procedure. Our anesthesiologist is a consultant at leading private and public hospitals and is very well trained and highly experienced. All general anaesthesia services are tailored to meet the patient’s individual needs using state-of-the-art equipment and the very safest sedation techniques and sedatives. We fully trust our anesthesiologist to take exceptional care of our patients, and his meticulous and caring approach ensures your experience is pleasant, smooth and stress-free. When you awaken, you will remember nothing about your treatment and can look forward to enjoying all the benefits of a healthy mouth.