Sedation Dentistry — No More Anxiety.

Dr. Marc Gottlieb is a trained dental anesthesiologist and expert in the field of sedation dentistry. I treat every patient as I would myself. I expect them to be a little nervous or anxious. In the medical community physicians often will perform procedures with an anesthesiologist or offer a medication to the patient to relax so they are not so nervous or anxious. The dental office is the ideal setting for sedation. Long appointments seem like they took a few minutes and you have very little if any recall of the time you spent in the dental chair.

Whether it’s a toothache, dental abscess, filling or regular cleaning you may be nervous, anxious or even scared to death before your dental appointment. Sedation dentistry is a very real affordable option for you. Oral Sedation is similar to a very controlled state of drunkenness under direct supervision and monitoring. Conscious sedation is extremely safe when administered by a qualified dentist. Oral Sedation is simply swallowing pills or a liquid medication. The most common medication is good old fashioned Valium. Valium is in the benzodiazepam family of medications and helps reduce your anxiety and creates a realxed peaceful state of mind. Triazolam is a newer benzodiazepam medication used for oral sedation that is crushed and placed under your tongue for faster absorption. You simply tell the dentist how nervous or anxious you are and using experience, your physical size and medical history will provide you with an appropriate dose of medication to help you relax in the dental chair and allow treatment.

Intravenous sedation (I.V.)  is a more predictable level of sedation because it doesn’t rely on the medication being absorbed by the stomach and gastointestinal tract.  I.V. sedation still utilizes benzodiazepams to heavily relax the patient above and beyond what Oral Sedation can safely do.

I’ve been utilizing oral and intravenous sedation since 1982. For mild anxiety requiring anxiolysis, oral Valium, oral Versed or any other benzodiazepine type medications, may be all you need to get over your fear of needles, gagging, dental extraction or a root canal. If you are a really nervous patient then either a larger dose Valium, Halcion (Triazalam) or intravenous (I.V.) sedation with Versed (midazolam) may be a better option. For the true phobic general anesthesia with an anesthesiologist is the safest way to go. We are always here to help bring back your smile.