Introduction
More and more often the dentist is asked to have the wisdom teeth extracted under general anesthesia. General anesthesia is a method of putting the patient’s brain and body into a state of rest, so that pain perception and mobility are suppressed. The dentist can extract or drill out the wisdom teeth more easily in this way because the patient does not feel any pain, the muscles are relaxed and the mouth can be opened as wide as possible.
Performance of general anesthesia
The sleeping pills are injected into the bloodstream so that the anesthetic works quickly and inhibits the transmission of pain and the processing of other stimuli. The operation of the wisdom teeth under general anesthesia is accompanied and monitored by a special anesthesiologist, an anesthesiologist. During a difficult wisdom tooth operation, one is additionally artificially ventilated through a tube.
When is general anesthesia useful?
As a rule, there are five cases which are an indication for general anesthesia for wisdom tooth extraction and which are medically justified.
- In the case of difficult to access, displaced wisdom teeth, where a simple local anaesthetic cannot eliminate the pain, a stronger anaesthetic must be used. It is also worthwhile if additional treatments can be performed in the same step during general anesthesia.
- The second case is when patients present a certificate for a dental phobia.
A psychotherapist must therefore provide evidence of a dental phobia that has already been treated psychotherapeutically.
- If you are allergic to the local anesthetic, but not to the anesthetics of a general anesthesia, you have to resort to it.
- Children who cannot keep still because of a disability or fear, or generally children who cannot be calmed once they are in the dentist’s chair, must be sedated with a general anesthetic.
- Just as difficult are usually patients with mental or physical disabilities to treat. On the one hand, general anesthesia is the quicker way, on the other hand working is safer if the patient is immobilized. The risk of injury for patients and dentist & team is minimized.
People who suffer from dental phobia are usually afraid of going to the dentist in early childhood.
In addition to psychotherapeutic treatment, general anesthesia is recommended, especially for major procedures. Even if you are only afraid of the treatment itself, the desire for a general anaesthetic may be obvious. Under general anesthesia you are put into a sleeping state so that you do not notice anything of the treatment.
In a normal wisdom tooth surgery, only local anesthesia is normally used. There is no pain, but you can hear the sounds of the treatment. Another method is the treatment with laughing gas or a kind of sedation. In these cases one falls into a light sleep or trance state. The treatment is painless and the anxiety disappears.