Effective July 2009, the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners has implemented new policies for sedation dentistry to help ensure patient safety. These new sedation dentistry polices require that the board validate recent experience and training of dentists who wish to practice sedation dentistry. More and more patients as well as dentists realize that sedation dentistry just makes good sense in so many cases.

For the level of sedation dentistry that works for more invasive or lengthy procedures, the level of accreditation needed from the NC State Board of Dental Examiners is called oral conscious sedation dentistry, or more specifically, limited moderate conscious sedation dentistry. This type of sedation dentistry may also make sense for patients who are undergoing lesser procedures but have great anxiety about having those dental procedures performed.

[A full technical description of the new sedation dentistry regulations is located at http://www.ncdentalboard.org/PDF/CleanNewSedationRules.pdf]

Availability of Sedation Dentistry in NC

Statistics from the NC Dental Board obtained in June 2009 indicate the following facts about the availability of general dentists who offer sedation dentistry in Raleigh, NC and across the state of North Carolina.

  • Only 6 of the 264 general dentists in Raleigh were certified for limited moderate conscious sedation dentistry.
  • Only 96 of the 3,433 general dentists in North Carolina were certified for limited moderate conscious sedation dentistry.

[Statistics provided by special request to NC Dental Board in June 2009.]

What Sedation Dentistry Can Do for You

There are many people who need dental procedures performed to restore or preserve oral health, and in some cases, overall physical health.  Yet, a bad experience, either as a child or an adult, with a dental visit may have left the person reluctant to have the needed dental procedure(s) performed. Often, the person may even experience significant anxiety about having routine procedures, such as cleaning the teeth, performed. With sedation dentistry, these patients are finding a way to comfortably have the needed procedures performed.

[Additional information about the safety and benefits of using sedation dentistry is available at http://www.raleighdentist.com/sedation-dentistry.php]

For many procedures, sedation dentistry is not actually needed to keep the patient comfortable. A skilled and caring dentist can usually handle most procedures without using sedation. However, it’s sometimes just the AVAILABILITY of sedation dentistry from the dentist that provides the “safety net” of patient comfort that people need to proceed with having necessary procedures performed. Even patients who have gone for decades without experiencing significant pain from any dental procedure can become anxiety-laden after having a single bad experience – perhaps with something as routine as filling a cavity.

A caring dentist will work to find the right methods of ensuring comfort for each individual patient; patient needs can vary tremendously. Sedation dentistry is an important option to have available. With the added “teeth” recently put in place by the NC Dental Board to certify that dentists and their staffs are fully qualified to be administering sedation dentistry, patients should feel totally comfortable with using the service whenever desired. The number of dentists who are qualified is quite low, but it is growing. Since these sedation dentistry regulations for North Carolina are relatively new, be sure and ask your dentist if he or she is certified by the Dental Board to perform this service.

[A description of sedation dentistry qualifications that is easier for the general public to understand is available at http://www.raleighdentist.com/sedation-dentistry-accreditation.php]