Treatment under General Anesthesia

The fear of pain is one of the most common reasons why patients have avoided visiting the dentist in the past.

Currently, it is a fear that is largely unjustified, because modern dentistry offers many effective and - what is important - safe methods of anesthesia.

The tooth is very well innervated due to the large number of nerve fibers and blood vessels that make up the tooth pulp. Anesthesia causes temporary impairment of nerve function.

Traditional anesthesia

Superficial anesthesia

One of the types of anesthesia most frequently accepted by patients is superficial anesthesia. It has the form of a cream, gel, aerosol or plaster and is applied a few minutes before the planned treatment. The patient should then feel pinching, tingling and / or numbness of the gums. Such anesthesia is useful before inserting a needle and minimizes the discomfort during anesthesia.

Infiltration anesthesia

During infiltration anesthesia, the patient experiences numbness in the gums, sometimes in the lips, nose and cheek. It is a submucosal anesthesia that effectively eliminates the pain transmission within the teeth of the maxilla and the anterior mandible.

Block anesthesia

It involves injecting the anesthetic directly into the area of ​​the alveolar nerve, thanks to which all the teeth supplied by this nerve undergo anesthesia. As a result, the patient does not feel pain, cold, heat and feels a marked stiffening of the lower lip. Thanks to this, treatment in the posterior teeth of the mandible, such as root canal treatments or extraction of wisdom teeth, are painless.

Laughing gas (nitrous oxide)

Inhalation sedation with the use of laughing gas allows for the elimination of pain and fear during the procedure.

It is a safe procedure that involves a shallow sedation, i.e. a controlled state of limiting the consciousness that involves retrograde amnesia.

It is recommended for children over 3 years old. Under the influence of nitrous oxide, they do not stress during their visit, and often do not remember it. There may be hallucinations such as the feeling of flying, swimming or levitating in the air, because nitrous oxide suppresses the feeling of gravity. The action of laughing gas subsides after about 5 minutes after the end of inhalation. Then the patient regains complete awareness.

Recommendations on the day of the procedure:

• before administering laughing gas, the patient cannot eat or drink for at least 2 hours. Children should be under the constant care of an adult throughout the day after surgery.
• before and after administering laughing gas, the patient should not drink alcohol
• it is also not recommended to wear tight clothing,
• the patient should refrain from driving a motor vehicle until the end of the day

Contraindications to the use of laughing gas:

• Lack of patient cooperation
• Alcoholism
• Multiple sclerosis; porphyria, myasthenia gravis
• Mental disorders
• The flu, rhinitis
• Hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsils
• 1^st semester of pregnancy
• Emphysema

Narcosis

This is the general anesthesia, meaning the complete and reversible loss of consciousness caused by the introduction of anesthetic drugs.

The goal of anesthesia is:

• the elimination of pain
• a lack of consciousness
• skeletal muscle relaxation
• lack of reflexes

Before performing general anesthesia on a patient, it is necessary to perform a series of basic tests aimed at checking the state of health and assessing whether the patient qualifies for anesthesia and the procedure itself. Then, a detailed interview with the patient is necessary. Sometimes, the good opinion of the anesthesiologist alone is not sufficient, and it is necessary to consult with other specialists who treat the patient. After their consultations, it is possible to select the best anesthesia for the patient.

Just before the anesthesia is given, the patient cannot take any medications on his own and must strictly follow the doctor's instructions. Very often patients before surgery are premedicated or undergo a pharmacological preparation for anesthesia and surgery. This is to reduce the anxiety and fear of the patient.

Under general anesthesia, procedures such as implants, surgical removal of teeth and pathological changes, as well as conservative treatment and teeth cleanings may be performed. In the case of general anesthesia, the fact that the patient is unaware is beneficial to the doctor who can then perform a series of necessary dental procedures at the same time.