At Longmont Oral, Facial and Implant Surgery, we offer different methods of anesthesia to provide optimal comfort for our patients. Anesthesia options will be discussed during your pre-op consultation.
Local Anesthetic: When only local anesthetic is used, the patient remains totally conscious throughout the procedure but a numbing medication is injected into the area to be treated thereby taking away any sensation including pain. Local anesthetic is also frequently used in combination with the other methods of anesthesia in oral surgery procedures.
Nitrous Oxide with Local Anesthetic: Nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas) is a sweet-smelling gas that has been the primary means of sedation in dentistry for decades. It is given a mixture that is 50-70% oxygen and 30% nitrous oxide that is inhaled by the patient. Nitrous oxide has a sedative as well as a pain-relieving effect. To further minimize pain and keep patients in a relaxed state, local anesthesia is used in the treatment area. Drs. Howard and Andrus will use this method for simple procedures as well as more involved procedures such as removal of wisdom teeth and placement of dental implants.
Nitrous oxide is not only an effective sedative, it has many other advantages including:
IV Sedation with Local Anesthetic: This method provides sedation by administering medication through an intravenous line (IV). Once the medications take effect, the patient is typically fully unaware of the procedure being performed but may drift in and out of sleep – depending on the medication used and the patient’s sensitivity to it. Regardless, most won’t recall any portion of the procedure. Breathing is monitored and supplemented with oxygen. Since IV sedation can be administered and monitored by Drs. Andrus and Howard in our Longmont office, the costly expense of having the procedure done in an operating room or same-day surgical facility can be avoided.
General Anesthesia: Certain procedures require admission to the hospital or surgery center where anesthesia is administered by an anesthesiologist. Some common procedures that often require general anesthesia include bone harvesting for bone grafting, extensive procedures such as face and jaw reconstruction as well as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery. Those with medical conditions such as heart disease or respiratory conditions may also require general anesthesia and other resources only a hospital or accredited surgical facility can offer.
Here at Longmont Oral, Facial and Implant Surgery we aim to make our patients as comfortable as possible and safety is always paramount. Drs. Andrus and Howard are skilled and experienced in administering anesthesia and sedation along with their highly trained staff. They will discuss all options and their respective risks and benefits with each patient prior to any procedure. Contact us for more information.
