In addition to using a local anesthetic to “numb” the tooth, patients that experience significant amounts of anxiety at the dental office can elect to have conscious sedation which will eliminate the patient’s anxiousness.
Conscious sedation can be administered in the form of breathing a gas, taking a pill or placing an intra venous (iv) line into a vein depending on the level of sedation the patient requires.
At all times the patient is conscious which means they can respond to commands, can breathe and swallow on their own and have total control of their reflexes.
