Lone Star Dental Anesthesia’s group of highly trained dentist anesthesiologists specializes in providing you with advanced anesthesia services benefitting patients who may experience the following:
WELCOME PATIENTS
We Strive To Please
FOR PATIENTS
- Fear, anxiety, or unease regarding dental treatment
- Sensitive gag reflex
- Low pain thresholds
- Previous failed attempts at local anesthesia
- Advanced age or cognitive impairment
- Physical or mental impairments or handicaps
- Children – due to age or intellectual/physical impairment
- Extensive dental treatment
- Basic desire to be relaxed for dental treatment
ANESTHESIA
Surveys accomplished by the ADA reveal many Americans are so fearful regarding dental care they do not go to the dentist. According to these ADA surveys, 10% of Americans are so highly anxious or nervous about dental treatment, they avoid the dentist. Another 20% find treatment so uncomfortable they are unable to follow through with the treatment. In fact, nearly half of people with dental insurance avoid dental therapy due to fear and anxiety.
Oral Sedation
Oral sedation is a management technique that utilizes oral medications and sometimes nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to create a state of sedation (relaxation and at times unawareness). This technique is advantageous for patients that have mild anxiety and fear. This technique may be used for children and adults depending upon the behavior of the child and level of anxiety of the adult patient. Oral sedation is not recommended for very young children, has varying levels of success and may be inadequate for most people.
Intravenous Moderate Sedation
IV sedation (Moderate/Conscious sedation) or Twilight Anesthesia is a safe and effective method of anesthesia for procedures requiring relaxation but not unconsciousness. During the procedure, the anesthesia provider delivers varying amounts of sedative and anesthetic medication through an intravenous (IV) line, monitoring the patient’s comfort level and increasing or decreasing medication as needed. This is a good technique for patients that have mild to moderate anxiety or fear of dental procedures. This technique may also be suitable for adult patients who require a great deal of dental treatment and wish to have more treatment completed in fewer visits. Patients treated with IV moderate sedation typically have little to no memory of the dental procedure being performed.
Deep Sedation / General Anesthesia
General Anesthesia is an anesthetic management technique, which uses intravenous and/or inhalation agents to induce a state of unconsciousness. It provides pain relief and amnesia and allows the dentist to work effectively while the patient is in a state of ‘sleep’. This is accomplished using IV and/or inhaled medications. This technique is used successfully with young children, resistant patients, patients with severe anxiety, and special needs patients who are unable to cooperate for dental treatment.
During the procedure, you will be monitored continuously using sophisticated and specialized equipment so that we can assess your state of anesthesia and tailor it accordingly.
TYPES OF ANESTHESIA
Definitions taken from ADA guidelines:
Deep Sedation
A drug-induced depression of consciousness during which patients cannot be easily aroused but respond purposefully following repeated or painful stimulation. The ability to independently maintain ventilatory function may be impaired. Patients may require assistance in maintaining a patent airway, and spontaneous ventilation may be inadequate. Cardiovascular function is usually maintained.
Moderate/Conscious Sedation
A drug-induced depression of consciousness during which patients respond purposefully to verbal commands, either alone or accompanied by light tactile stimulation. No interventions are required to maintain a patent airway, and spontaneous ventilation is adequate. Cardiovascular function is usually maintained.
Note: In accord with this particular definition, the drugs and/or techniques used should carry a margin of safety wide enough to render unintended loss of consciousness unlikely. Repeated dosing of an agent before the effects of the previous dosing can be fully appreciated may result in a greater alteration of the state of consciousness than is the intent of the dentist. Further, a patient whose only response is reflex withdrawal from a painful stimulus is not considered to be in a state of moderate sedation.
The following definition applies to the administration of moderate or greater sedation: titration – administration of incremental doses of a drug until the desired effect is reached. Knowledge of each drug’s time of onset, peak response, and duration of action is essential to avoid over-sedation. Although the concept of titration of a drug to effect is critical for patient safety when the intent is moderate sedation one must know whether the previous dose has taken full effect before administering an additional drug increment.
General Anesthesia
A drug-induced loss of consciousness during which patients are not arousable, even by painful stimulation. The ability to independently maintain ventilatory function is often impaired. Patients often require assistance in maintaining a patent airway, and positive pressure ventilation may be required because of depressed spontaneous ventilation or drug induced depression of neuromuscular function. Cardiovascular function may be impaired. Because sedation and general anesthesia are a continuum, it is not always possible to predict how an individual patient will respond. Hence, practitioners intending to produce a given level of sedation should be able to diagnose and manage the physiologic consequences (rescue) for patients whose level of sedation becomes deeper than initially intended.
FAQ’s
If there is food or liquid in the stomach, there is a risk of aspirating, or inhaling food or liquid into the lungs during anesthesia, which can cause serious problems including lung problems and even death. Allowing the stomach enough time to empty minimizes the risk of aspiration.
You may feel slightly groggy or tired for a few hours after your procedure. Although you may feel fine, your memory and judgment may be impaired for the remainder of the day. All effects of anesthesia should be gone within 24 hours. Depending on the type of surgery you have completed, you will have varying amounts of discomfort associated with the procedure.
Each patient and their medical history are unique and we will instruct you to either take or withhold all or some of your medications. Know that it is okay to take your medications with a small sip of water in the morning if instructed to do so by the anesthesiologist.
Side effects vary from person to person; the most common side effects include nausea and vomiting, sore throat, and physical and mental impairment. These effects are generally mild and short duration.
Some medical and dental insurance will cover total or partial payment for anesthesia services. Lone Star Dental Anesthesia does not contract with any insurance company, so your fee is paid directly to the practice. We are able to provide you with an invoice containing all the appropriate dental anesthesia codes used should you wish to seek reimbursement from your insurance plan. We are separate and not part of your dentist’s practice, and therefore cannot contact your insurance company directly.
There are several different ways to perform general anesthesia. Upon the discretion of the anesthesiologists, you may or may not have an endotracheal (breathing) tube, an LMA (laryngeal mask airway, which is a mask placed in the throat), a nasopharyngeal airway (placed in the nose) or a protective throat screen. This depends on individual patients, medical histories, and the type of procedure to be performed.
WE’RE ONE OF A KIND
Please feel free to call our office with any questions that you may have.
Copyright ©2024 all rights reserved