General Anesthesia Dentist

How Does a General Anesthesia at the Dentist Work?

Most people associate general anesthesia with major surgery, but surprisingly, it can also be found at some dentist's offices. Even if you're a dentist, this may cause you to ask some questions, like: How does general anesthesia work? Do patients have to go to a hospital?

Patients actually do not have to go to a hospital. Instead, dentist anesthesiologist does everything right in the usual office. There are two main methods used. One involves intubation to secure the patient's airway, while the other does not.

Either way, anesthesia drugs are administered through an IV at a level that will put your patient to sleep for the duration of the procedure. This is done by a licensed dentist anesthesiologist. The dentist anesthesiologist also monitors the patient for the duration of the procedure to ensure that everything is working as it should and that the patient does not wake up prematurely.

While it's possible for a general anesthesia dentist to have a full-time anesthesiologist on staff, most offices don't need it often enough to justify this route. Instead, they contract with a mobile dentist anesthesiologist such as Dr. Yancey from Mountain Dental Anesthesia. The mobile dentist anesthesiologist is scheduled in advance, and comes on the day of the procedure to perform the service. This allows the dentist's office to have access to a qualified practitioner without the expense of a full-time staff addition.

Those who are qualified to perform general anesthesia can also administer other levels of dental sedation. Mild sedation is great for those who aren't fully phobic of dental procedures, but who do get nervous and want to knock that down a bit. Deep sedation, the next level, leaves patients awake but very "out of it."

Mountain Dental Anesthesia also provides anesthesia service for pediatric patients. Many children cannot sit still long enough for prolonged procedures to be done. They also may be more likely to act out on fears that adults would try to tough out. Anesthesia not only prevents mishaps caused by this, but helps to avoid the later development of dental phobias.

To learn how to bring Mountain Dental Anesthesia to your office, give them a call. They'll also be glad to answer any further questions about how their general anesthesia work is done and which patients are the most suited for it.