Untitled Document Intravenous Sedation Intravenous sedation is the administration of a tranquillizer drug into the blood system in order to facilitate dental surgery in the highly anxious patient. The sedative used produces a very strong sensation of deep relaxation and well-being in the vast majority of patients. Even the most highly anxious patients can be successfully treated with this technique.
Most patients experience either full or partial memory loss of the dental surgery.
This is one of the factors that most patients give as it's biggest advantage. The drug is injected into one of the superficial veins of the arm or hand. As the vein is usually just under the skin and the needles used these days are extremely thin this is usually quite painless. The vast majority of patients are medically able to have sedation, although some medical conditions rule it out as an option, such as severe lung diseases, some heart problems, obesity or anorexia. As opposed to general anaesthesia the patient remains medically consious but deeply relaxed throughout the surgery.