Sedation Dentistry - Practice Safety in Selection!

Fortunately for many patients, the option of being sedated while dental procedures are performed is becoming more widely available. This means that patients who experience anxiety about having necessary dental work can have the procedures they've been avoiding. In addition, sedation dentistry helps patients needing either lengthy or multiple procedures to have those completed both efficiently and comfortably. For those unfamiliar with the basics of sedation dentistry, see this overview of the benefits and safety of sedation dentistry.

Just like doctors in medical practices use different types of sedation depending on the procedure and patient's unique situation, so do dentists offer different levels of sedation. However, not every dentist offers every level of sedation.

Application Development

Because of the growing popularity of this service, the American Dental Association (ADA) and some state dental boards have taken recent actions to both clearly define the various levels of sedation dentistry and in some cases, verify that dentists and their staffs have the appropriate qualifications needed for each level of sedation.

Recognizing that more consistent training in the use of sedation could be a benefit to dental patient safety, the ADA House of Delegates adopted Guidelines for Teaching Pain Control and Sedation to Dentists and Dental Students in October 2007. "These Guidelines...provide a reasonable measure of program acceptability, applicable to all institutions and agencies engaged in predoctoral and continuing education." Sedating patients appropriately and safely is not simply a matter of knowing the pharmacology. The guidelines stress the importance of a combined understanding of the roles of physiology, psychology, and pharmacology in providing a comfortable experience to patients undergoing dental procedures.

While the ADA guidelines acknowledge that many dentists have become adept at techniques for controlling pain and anxiety through both education and experience, the ADA Foundation has also funded the Development of new courses that should help to set crisper standards. Some state dental boards also have begun to more rigorously validate sedation dentistry qualifications. North Carolina is one such state. This helps residents ensure that the dentists they choose have the right training and experience to perform the level of sedation dentistry they offer. (It is the responsibility of every individual state to ensure that only qualified dentists practice sedation.)

The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners enacted new accreditation requirements that went into effect in July 2009 that should help assure patients that dentists have the right qualifications. The state's statute itself is difficult for many people outside the field of dentistry to understand. This explanation of different levels of sedation dentistry qualifications in less technical language may be helpful to North Carolina residents.

Summary

Sedation dentistry is becoming more readily available. Patients who need to undergo dental procedures that can cause significant pain, undergo a lengthy treatment, or simply experience anxiety about any type of dental procedure can benefit from sedation dentistry. Given the growing popularity, the ADA and some state dental boards are becoming more proactive in defining the training and experience needed to safely perform different levels of sedation.

Sedation Dentistry - Practice Safety in Selection!