General Anaesthesia
This is the 'ultimate' tool for the dental surgeon
in the phobic patient.
In this procedure the patient is completely anaesthetised,
ie totally put to sleep.
Although this may at first sound the most acceptable
way for you it should really only be performed as a last resort
when other safer techniques have failed. Most dentists are reluctant
to use general anaesthesia as there is a risk to the patients'
health with every anaesthetic performed.
The availability of general anaesthesia is poor in
some parts of the U.K. The anaesthetic must be administered by
a fully qualified anaesthetist, other than the dentist, and so
these procedures are usually undertaken at specialist anaesthetic
clinics.
Even though at first sight this may seem to be the
best 'get out' for the patient, don't forget that it will do little
to treat the phobia. If anything being put to sleep for every
dental procedure may actually reinforce the fear of dentistry.
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