Long-term Effects Of Dental Sedation | Dental Treatment Guide


The long-term positive effects of dental sedation are many. They range from psychological to physical benefits and can manifest as improvements in problems which you have had since childhood.

Long-term positive effects

You may experience an improved outlook towards dentistry after having undergone dental sedation. This can limit the mistrust or fear of dentistry which you might have had since an early point of your life, which may stem from a fear of pain, discomfort or vulnerability while seeing a dentist. Dental sedation removes some of these negative sensations while you undergo dental procedures, and your mind will react by ceasing to associate dentistry with them. In turn, you may feel less anxious or afraid of dentistry, and you can then begin to trust dentists and relax more while you are in their care.

The long-term effects of this increase in trust can be highly beneficial for your oral health. If you lose your dental anxiety or mistrust of dental practitioners, then dental visits can become a more common and routine fixture in your life. This means that problems with your oral health can be more easily and quickly treated or even prevented. A regular visit to a dentist will make it more likely that developing problems such as tooth decay can be countered at an early stage (which decreases the problems' effects or even stops them completely). And more pleasant memories of dental procedures, which dental sedation can help to create, will allow you to feel comfortable visiting a dentist more regularly. A high standard of oral health will also improve your chances of being generally healthier and having a higher quality of life.

Long-term negative effects

The only long-term effects which dental sedation can have are psychological (an improved outlook towards dentistry) and the health benefits which those effects can lead to. For this reason, the negative effects of dental sedation are limited to the period of time during which you are sedated, and shortly afterwards. Therefore, no long-term negative effects have yet been reported.

However, some of the immediate side-effects such as hypoxia could have severe results. These may have a longer lasting effect on your health, and therefore be considered as long-term effects. But in most circumstances, if the procedure itself goes well, then there is very little or no chance that you will experience negative side-effects at a later date.

It is also possible that if you experience nausea or vomiting as an immediate effect of the sedation, your immune system could be weakened. This lowering of your body's defences could allow an infection (for example, a cold or stomach bug) to occur, causing you to be unwell. However, this is highly unlikely and the effects probably would not be very long-lasting.

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