At Advanced Dental Care we are a team who honors honesty and mutual respect. We invest in training and technology to better serve you. We are equipped to ease anxiety and make you comfortable. We provide Premium Quality Dentistry at a fair price. We always value your time. We seek to understand your unique hopes, fears, and goals. We simply care about you.
Why Choose Advanced Dental Care of South Texas for Sedation Dentistry?
IV Sedation Available
Advanced Dental Facility
Team That Simply Cares
Pre-Op Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PATIENTS RECEIVING SEDATION
If your surgery is in the morning, do not eat or drink anything between bedtime and your scheduled appointment.
If your surgery is at 1:00 p.m., you may eat a light breakfast before 7:00 a.m. Afterwards, do not eat anything until after the appointment.
Unless specified by your dentist, all medicines taken on a routine basis should be continued without interruption. Please swallow with a minimal amount of water if within two hours of your appointment.
If your medication were changed or stopped for this appointment, resume your normal dosing after the appointment as specifically recommended by your dentist.
It is critical for you to not eat any food or drink opaque liquids (for example: coffee, milk, orange juice) for at least six hours before your appointment. You may drink clear liquids (such as water and apple juice) up to two hours before the procedure.
A responsible adult, over 18 years of age, must accompany the patient to the clinic and remain here throughout the entire procedure. Following the sedation, this responsible adult must escort the patient home, and a responsible adult should remain with the patient for the rest of the day or until the patient is fully awake.
A parent or legal guardian must accompany minors (persons under the age of 18 years of age).
For intravenous sedation, patients should wear clothing that is not restricting to the neck or arms. Please wear a short sleeve shirt. If the weather is cool, wear a jacket or sweater that you can remove.
We may ask you to remove your contact lenses.
Please do not wear fingernail polish (on at least one finger).
Following the sedation patients should refrain from driving an automobile or engaging in any activity that requires alertness until the next day or until fully alert. Avoid alcoholic beverages until the next day.
Please note that failure to follow any of these instructions will result in the cancellation of your sedation appointment.
Is Dental Sedation Safe?
If you choose to have oral conscious sedation performed at your next appointment, you’ll be given a small pill to take at a set time beforehand. Once the pill takes effect, you’ll be extremely relaxed, but you won’t be unconscious; you’ll still be able to answer our questions, and we can wake you up easily if you happen to fall asleep. It will take a while for the effects of oral conscious sedation to fully wear off, so make sure there’s someone who can drive you home afterward.
Types of Sedation
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas, is the most common form of sedation used by dentists. This form of sedation doesn’t put you to sleep and is very effective in calming you down so that you can sit through a whole procedure. It is very safe, has few known side effects, and is easily reversed before you leave the office. This means you can drive and function normally after the procedure. As with all forms of sedation, local anesthesia will likely still be utilized once you are sedated to prevent any pain during the procedure.
Oral Sedation
With oral sedation, you take a pill or liquid orally to help you relax. It is best used for short, minimally-invasive procedures. This is often used in combination with nitrous oxide for better efficiency. Like with nitrous oxide sedation, you will still be awake but will achieve a deeper level of relaxation. Given this, you must have somebody else drive you home after the procedure.
IV Sedation
Intravenous (IV) sedation, or moderate sedation, is another method of easing a patient’s anxiety. With this method, instead of taking something orally or inhaling it, the sedative is injected directly into a vein. This results in a slightly deeper, consistent sedation more suitable for longer, more invasive procedures. Unlike nitrous oxide sedation, Dr. Valadez will insist that you recover in the office and have somebody else drive you home after your dental procedure.
General Anesthesia
This is a form of sedation where you will be rendered completely asleep for the entirety of the procedure. This often uses a combination of drugs injected directly into the veins and inhaling anesthesia in gas form. This level of sedation is reserved for long, invasive procedures and will be performed by a Dental Anesthesiologist or Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. The specific recovery time is variable depending on the procedure.
