IV Sedation at Stanley Dentistry

Are you afraid of going to the dentist? Do you have anxiety about dental work? At Stanley Dentistry we sympathize with the fear and discomfort of visiting the dentist. That’s why we have implemented a new method of sedation that allows you to feel completely relaxed during your visit. IV Sedation allows patients to enter a sleep like state through their dental procedure.

The drug used for IV Sedation is an anti-anxiety sedative which makes the patient feel sleepy, and relaxed, it also produces partial or total amnesia, so that when finished, the patient will not remember much, if any, of the procedure. The medicine is administered via an “indwelling catheter”, which is a very thin, plastic tube inserted into a vein close to the surface of the skin, in the arm or back of the hand. The IV medication is not a painkiller, so once you are sedated / relaxed the local anesthetic will be administered. The effect of the IV Sedation is that of total relaxation, and though patients will have enough awareness to respond to requests from the dentist, they will only remember a sleepy feeling that set in at the start of the procedure.

IV Sedation is the same type of sedation that has been used by oral surgeons for several years. Several other types of surgery are also commonly performed using IV Sedation, such as orthopedic surgery, and some cosmetic surgery. The use of IV Sedation in the dental office is becoming more common, but because of the length and cost of training only a small number of dental practices are willing to offer it.

In October, Dr. Robert Stanley completed a comprehensive course in IV Sedation provided by the American Society for the Advancement of Anesthesia & Sedation in Dentistry at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey in conjunction with the Seton Hall University School of Graduate Medical Education. Upon completion of the course Dr. Stanley applied for, and was granted permission from the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners to begin practicing IV Sedation in the offices of Stanley Dentistry. With that permission, “Stanley Dentistry will be better able to meet a wider range of patient’s fears and dental needs,” stated Dr. Stanley.