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Types
of Anesthesia
Anesthesia provides freedom from pain and may even make the dental procedure safer for you. There are several types of anesthesia: general, intravenous sedation, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and local (Novocain). Dr. Davies has extensive hospital training and 26 years experience with all of these techniques. General Anesthesia with nasal intubation is a
common type of anesthesia for surgery in the hospital but is rare
in the dental office for adults because of its side effects and dangers. You are in a sleep state during the surgery and
usually have
no pain. Your entire body is numb, not just your mouth which is the only
area that needs to be numb. You will remember little about the surgery
or recovery period but you cannot be guaranteed that you will remember nothing.
Because of these risks Dr. Davies like over 90% of providers will not
intubate non-retarded adults in the office. There are several methods of
giving general anesthesia without forcing a breathing tube down the back of your throat and into your
lungs with the obvious problems of that technique.
Many anesthetic drugs are now available to avoid the tube, and they help make your anesthesia
safer than ever before. The selection of which drugs are used depends on
your physical condition and the type and length of surgery you are having.
Although very safe, general anesthesia usually has more potential risks
than intravenous conscious sedation with local anesthesia.
Conscious sedation means a controlled state of extreme relaxation with very little memory of the procedure. It is administered by Dr. Davies through an intravenous (IV) line. To be totally effective, local anesthesia must also be administered. Local anesthesia is used to numb only a specific part of the mouth. A local anesthetic (numbing medicine) is injected into the area after you are sleeping, where it blocks pain sensations. With either general anesthesia or conscious sedation, Dr. Davies will prescribe a sleeping pill for you to take the night prior to your appointment and a tranquilizer (like Valium) for you to take one hour prior to your dental visit. After all the monitors are placed, you will be given nitrous oxide and oxygen to relax you further and Dr. Davies will start an intravenous line. This usually produces far less discomfort than a simple blood test. After the IV line is in place, he will administer medications through the IV tubing until you are are in a state of extreme relaxation or asleep. At that time, he will administer a local anesthetic (numbing medicine) in the area of your mouth. This is nearly always painless since you are sleeping during the injections. Intravenous sedation allows the benefits of a general anesthetic (amnesia, pain free state) and the safety of the local anesthetic (rapid awakening, minor changes in vital signs). In fact, studies have shown that for patients with medical conditions that are aggravated by stress (asthma, hypertension or angina) intravenous sedation may be safer than local anesthesia alone. [Top]
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