A Safe Option to Relieve Anxiety
Do you get anxious at the dentist? Do you have trouble sleeping the night before an appointment or find yourself avoiding the dentist altogether? Or, do you just want peace of mind during a stressful dental procedure? We may be able to help.

Green Lake Dental offers three types of sedation for before and during your dental appointment: nitrous oxide gas, oral (in pill form) and IV.  The type of sedation we recommend for you depends on your unique needs and medical history.

Each of the options listed below are safe and convenient for relieving anxiety and promoting relaxation. All sedated patients are monitored carefully during the entire procedure.

Call Green Lake Dental for more information about dental sedation.

3 Levels of Sedation offered at Green Lake Dental

Nitrous Oxide Gas
Nitrous oxide (you may know it as “laughing gas”) has been used to relieve anxiety in medical and dental patients for hundreds of years. Though not all patients laugh when given nitrous oxide, they do feel relaxed within minutes of inhalation. Nitrous oxide is appropriate for patients who experience anxiety in the dental chair and can foster relaxation either for an entire procedure or a certain part, like the numbing portion of the procedure.

To administer this sedative, the dentist will place a small mask over the nose and mouth and the patient takes several deep breaths. Nitrous Oxide is the only sedation option that allows the patient to drive themselves home after the appointment, as the effect wears off relatively quickly.

Oral Sedation
Oral sedation (or “oral conscious sedation”) is a pill taken by mouth which relaxes the patient and relieves anxiety and stress. This pill is administered to the patient prior to the exam, and is to be taken either the night before, to help them sleep, or one hour before the appointment to relieve anxiety while in the chair.

Oral sedation does not knock you out, though some patients experience a heavier sedation than others. Some patients will fall asleep in the chair with this type of sedation. Typically, the patient is awake and aware, but comfortable, relaxed, and possibly drowsy. Because of the heightened sedative effect, all patients who take oral sedation need to have a driver both to and from their appointment.

IV Sedation
IV sedation is an intravenous line administered by the dentist to relax you during a procedure. You may be familiar with intravenous anesthesia, which gives a “knock out” effect during medical treatment or surgery. IV dental sedation does not knock the patient out. Rather, it lulls the patient into a deeply relaxed state known as “twilight sleep.” Under IV sedation, the patient is usually drowsy or sleeping but if needed is able to answer doctors questions, but is totally relaxed and likely will not remember the procedure.

IV sedation is very precise, and we are able to carefully adjust the dosage to each patient’s unique needs. None of the sedation types listed above are painkillers, however, so it will be necessary to deliver an anesthetic on top of the sedation.