General anaesthetic (or GA for short) is what most people commonly refer to as “going under” or being “put to sleep”. And it’s really reserved for the most complex procedures, or where dental phobia is so where there might be impacted wisdom teeth and quite extensive surgical aspects to treatment.
Or where dental phobia is so profound that the approach to mainstream dentistry cannot support the patient.
It should be considered the last resort in managing dental phobia because of the risks, costs or wait lists associated with its provision.
General Anaesthesia for Dental Treatment
Firstly, let’s have a look into the role of general anaesthesia.
GA is provided with specialist Anaesthetists who are responsible for ensuring your oxygen, brain activity, blood pressure, respiratory are monitored at all times.
Whereas mainstream dental sedation or IV sedation uses a single drug like midazolam, general anaesthetic would use a mixture of drugs to firstly make you unconscious, so medicines like Proopofol might be used, as well as opioids like Fentanyl to disrupt the pain signals to the brain.
That’s why there’s an increased risk associated with general anaesthetic. Although it’s very common for medical procedures, it should still be avoided if there are other routes of treatment.
When is general anaesthesia used?
General anaesthesia might be used where there are complex procedures like impacted wisdom teeth extractions, or where there’s multiple extractions happening in one given appointment.
It might be the patients with special needs, so where there’s intellectual disabilities, autism, behavioral challenges, which might prevent the safe delivery of sedation.
Accessing Dental Treatment under GA
One of the Primary limitations of general aesthetic dental treatment is that it can only really be done in an NHS system because of the need for specialist anesthetists and the monitoring equipment as well as You
One of the primary limitations of general aesthetic dental treatment is that it is only widely available in a NHS Hospital setting.
This is because of the need for specialist anesthetists and the monitoring equipment, as well as you.
There are private hospitals available.
