Conscious Sedation in Dentistry: Selecting the Right Patient

Managing patient anxiety is a fundamental aspect of dentistry. Dentists are under obligation to provide appropriate and safe pain and anxiety management for each patient. Patients have the right to have appropriate anxiety control for any procedure. In order to ensure that a high standard of conscious sedation is provided for patients, the dentist providing the procedure must make sure that all guidelines and standards are met, from choosing the suitable patient, using the right drug, the environment, appropriately trained staff.¹ The importance of a thorough pre-assessment cannot be overemphasized when selecting patients to sedate in a primary care setting.

Conscious sedation is ‘A technique in which the use of a drug or drugs produces a state of depression of the nervous system enabling treatment to be carried out, but during which verbal contact with the patient is maintained throughout the period of sedation. The drugs and techniques used to provide conscious sedation for dental treatment should carry a margin of safety wide enough to render loss of consciousness unlikely.’^2,3 Sedation provides anxiolysis and amnesia for patients. Conscious sedation can be achieved with a single drug or multiple drugs using various different routes.