Preparing For Your Dental Procedure With Sedation

If you have a dental procedure coming up and you plan on receiving sedation dentistry, here are a few things that you need to know to successfully prepare for your dental appointment.

Eating and Drinking Depends on Your Appointment Time

There are time restrictions on when you can eat and drink as well as what you can eat and drink prior to your appointment. This is to ensure that there are no adverse reactions to the anesthesia.

You should avoid dairy products as well as semi-solid and solid foods for at least six hours prior to your dental procedure. You should only consume clear liquids—water, juice, Gatorade) up to your hours before your appointment.

For example, if your appointment is at 9:00 a.m., you will need to stop eating food at 3:00 a.m. and clear liquids at 7:00 a.m. If your appointment is at 3:00 p.m., you can eat until 9:00 a.m. and drink until 1:00 p.m.

Dress for Comfort

Your dentist will recommend that you wear loose, comfortable clothing to your appointment. Anesthesia must be given to you, so it is important that you don't wear tight clothes. Plus, tights clothes can lead to you being uncomfortable while you are sitting in a dental chair for an extended period of time.

Take Medications as Normal

Unless your dental professional has told you otherwise, if you take any medications on a regular basis, go ahead and take them. If your dentist has prescribed any medication for you to take before the appointment, you must take that as well—and only do so with a small amount of water. If the medication is required to be taken with food, take it with a small amount of applesauce. If you are unsure whether you should take a certain medication before your procedure, call your dentist.

Bring an Escort with You

Regardless of the level of sedation that you receive at your appointment, you will be unable to operate a vehicle afterward. Plus, it is a good idea to have adult supervision/observation for a few hours after the dental appointment to ensure you fully and properly recovery for the sedation. One of the main concerns is your balance and coordination, as you could suffer an injury until you fully recover. Therefore, make sure that you bring along an adult with you to your appointment who can drive you home and remain with you for a few hours.