The Sedation Standard The standard of treating patients using sedation has already been set in the U.S. by physicians over the past 30 years. It is nothing new to patients for operations on knees, feet, wrists, ears, noses, etc. A lady told me the other day, "I had to go in for an MRI (a type of x-ray), and I was very nervous so my doctor gave me some sedation." Patients ask dentists for sedation, and the dentists do everything they can to talk them out of it. Most dentists do not want to go through the additional training that is necessary to sedate patients. You wouldn't think of having an ear operation or a nose operation without sedation. But, you move one inch to the teeth and it becomes acceptable to endure time-consuming, strenuous, noisy, and uncomfortable procedures on the most sensitive and personal part of the body (the mouth) with no sedation. Dentists attempt to work outside of the already established standard of using sedation. Hence, we as dentists treat only 50% of the population while physicians treat over 90%. I have found that fearful patients mentally have no problem being sedated for dental treatment. You ask a nervous patient, "Would you rather have this work done in six appointments over the next two months or in one appointment while you sleep?," and they look at you like you're crazy. "Put me to sleep," is all they say. Sedation for certain types of dental care has been used for more than thirty years. If you asked a hundred patients who have had their wisdom teeth removed how they had it done, most would say they were put to sleep to have them removed. The problem is that dentists say, "Oh, wisdom teeth extractions, root canals, and drilling on teeth are not bad enough." This is why 50% of the population does not go to the dentist. The patient is the one who needs to determine what is bad enough for them to warrant sedation, not the dentist. If you feel that sedation, which is the standard of care for the rest of the body, is necessary for your dental care, call us.
Type of Sedation The sedation we utilize is oral sedation (pills). We use pills for several reasons:
- Many of our patients are needle-phobic, so they do not like to be told that we must use a needle to sedate them.
- With oral sedation, we can work on patients for a longer period of time.
- Oral sedation is very safe.
- The pills stay in a patient's system for several hours after the appointment, so we get few complaints of pain after procedures are completed.
Is Oral Sedation safe? The reason that we use this oral sedation technique is because of its safety. The pill that we use is a common sleeping pill. In 1996, for example, 1,700,000 of these pills were taken by people, not on an annual basis, not on a monthly basis, but on a daily basis. An average of 1.7 million! The 1996 total tablets taken was 621,000,000. The vast majority of these tablets were taken by patients at home to help them sleep at night. We give our patients more than they would take at home and use state-of-the-art, hospital-type monitoring equipment to assess the patient's pulse, oxygen saturation in the blood, and blood pressure. For your safety, we do not sedate people under 18 years old or those who have specific medical history conflicts. We review the medical history of each patient thoroughly, prior to considering treatment with sedation. How many appointments will it take to complete all the treatment I need? Quality general dentistry is very time consuming. Patients with complex dental problems are often depressed when told it will take 8 to 10 appointments over a period of several months to fix their teeth. This type of plan most often ends in failure for fearful patients who have been hurt by dentists in the past. They will go for one or two appointments to get out of pain, then abandon the remaining treatment until they are in pain again. Many of you are familiar with this scenario since you have gone through it several times. This results in a lifetime of pain and a decreased desire to smile due to embarrassment. Because of newer and safer sedation techniques utilizing a common sleeping pill, there is a growing trend in the U.S. among trained dentists to sedate patients. This enables them to complete the entire treatment in 1 or 2 appointments, in most cases, instead of 8 or 10. With this sedation technology, you will feel like you've slept through your appointment and will have little or no memory of the hours spent in the dental chair.
"I've been a patient of Dr. Peabody's since the beginning of his practice in Santa Cruz. The care is easy to take and quite painless. Though I've left the area, my wife and I continue to receive treatment there. It is well worth the drive and inconvenience to have dental care from a dentist we trust and a great staff. As long as we are in California, it is likely we will make our trips back to Santa Cruz to see Dr. Peabody and his cheerful and highly qualified assistants. The care and service is first rate!"
-Robert
"Today I experienced a miracle. Dr. Peabody finished a three-step tooth reconstruction for me by inserting my crown. Since I had pretty well destroyed my original tooth, I am very grateful for Dr.Peabody's skills and his gentleness as a dentist. All of his staff has been so helpful and kind as well. I never knew going to the dentist could be so painless and hopeful. It has truly been a miraculous day!"-Theresa
"I am the world's biggest baby when it comes to going to the dentist. Because of Dr. Peabody and his sedation procedure, I was able to get through major dental work. After almost 6 hours in the chair, all I remembered was asking him how things were going. I will be a patient for life. Many thanks to Dr. Peabody and his staff."-Cindy
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how we are doing.