Sedation dentistry

Sedation dentistry refers to the use of pharmacological agents to induce relaxation and often sleep in a patient prior to and during a dental appointment. It is also known as conscious sedation, where it is defined as "a technique in which the use of a drug / drugs produces a state of depression of the central nervous system enabling treatment to be carried out, but during which verbal contact with the patient is maintained throughout the period of sedation"^[1]. The pharmacological agents used differ depending on patient, level of sedation desired and medical professional administering the sedation medications. The medications can belong to a class of drugs called sedatives, which exert their action by depressing the central nervous system, specifically those areas concerned with conscious awareness. Medications used to obtain sedation often include a benzodiazepine (i.e. alprazolam, triazolam, diazepam), opioids (i.e. fentanyl), dissociative (i.e ketamine) and anti-histamines (i.e. hydroxyzine, Benadryl).