Dr. Barnett has been administering Conscious IV Sedation to patients that desire help in dealing with the fear of dentistry since 1995.

When sedation of a patient is needed or desired then IV Conscious sedation provides the most control of sedation level of any of the methods.

Conscious Sedation allows the patient to have their reflexes intact i.e. swallowing, coughing while at the same time being more relaxed and having little to no memory of the dental treatment.

The medicines that our office currently use are:

Valium – the tried and true sedative with a long history of success. Valium does usually have an amnesiac effect (‘you don’t remember’ effect). It tends to also have a bit of an uplifting effect on the patient’s mood. We tend to use valium for the longer procedures.

Promethazine – more commonly known as Phenergan. We use Promethazine for our longer procedures often in combination with Valium. Promethazine is an antihistamine that causes drowsiness. It helps valium work longer and also reduces the amount of valium needed for sedation.

Versed – We use Versed most often now. Versed does not last as long as Valium but it has a stronger amnesiac effect. It is a water based medicine which makes it kinder to the veins than valium. Versed also does not come back around to effect you later like Valium often does.

Demerol – Demerol is a narcotic analgesic which we use on occasion. We usually use this with Versed in order to improve a patient’s level of “happiness”.