The patient can be wide awake and get the shots of Novocain to numb the area. They’ll feel me pushing for a little bit, and then if we’re placing the implant they’ll feel a little vibration, like we’re doing a filling, and that’s it.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have a nurse anesthetist who can give the patient an IV and they’ll go completely to sleep. It’s not general anesthesia where they put the tube in your throat, there’s just enough medicine to help them fall completely asleep.
In between, they can do a little bit of nitrous oxide – laughing gas. Or if the patient wants to be more asleep, we can give them a pill and that’ll help them feel closer to taking a nap.
Patients will ask about awake, asleep or somewhere in between and most people choose that somewhere in between with the pill. Most people do really, really well with that. They’re far enough sedated that they can still respond if I need them to open wider or move a little bit, but they’ll come back a week later to take out stitches and say, “Man I don’t know what you gave me but it’s good stuff.”
Most patients choose to do the pill. It’s the easiest on the pocketbook and it’s the easiest in terms of scheduling.