The Different Types of Sedation for Dental Anxiety

You’re in good company.

But thankfully, there is an effective way to cope with this dental worry: sedation dentistry! And our friendly downtown Toronto dentist offers four types of sedation to help you face your fears – because a healthy smile depends on it.

Minimal Sedation: Oral and Nitrous Oxide

Two forms of milder sedation include oral sedation and nitrous oxide (laughing gas). With oral sedation, a pill (typically Halcion) will be provided to the patient to be taken roughly one hour before the patient’s scheduled treatment. The pill will help the patient to feel deeply relaxed and less anxious – and may even cause the patient to fall asleep.

With nitrous oxide sedation, a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen is provided through a mask that is placed over the patient’s nose. The dentist is able to easily control the level of sedation administered, with the effects tending to wear off quickly. Oh, and its alternative name “laughing gas” is because it tends to do just that – make patients giggly!

Moderate Sedation: Moderate (IV) Sedation

With moderate (IV) sedation, the drug is delivered intravenously and level of sedation is controlled by the trained professional. Patients will become deeply relaxed and drowsy, and will typically fall asleep or recall nothing of their treatment when they receive this moderate level of sedation.

Deep Sedation: General Anesthesia

With deep sedation, a patient receives a sedative intravenously that essentially “puts them to sleep” – so they will not be conscious for their procedure. This type of sedation is ideal for patients with severe dental anxiety, and for certain procedures that may be more complex.