Oral Sedation ($83 per session)

Dentists are now advertising Oral Sedation (Pills) in various media. They claim that this very light form of sedation allows them to perform hours worth of dentistry. But this is simply not true! Oral Sedation, since it is given in pill form, is not very predictable. Some patients get very sedated, but others simply will not sedate. Do we use Oral Sedation in our office? The answer is Yes, but for very limited procedures only. Most procedures that do not involve oral surgery procedures, or are very short, are done with oral medications. This saves the patients the costs of IV Sedation. Some dentists are also charging up to $350 for this very basic procedure.

Patients should be aware that the use of Oral Sedation techniques now requires an Oral Sedation Permit issued by the Dental Board of California. Because the permiting procedure is so new, no permits are being issued on the basis of the applicant completing a board-approved educational course. New applicants are being "grandfathered" based on ten cases submitted to the Board. The law provides for NO in-office state board evaluation of emergency skills as required by the Conscious Sedation (IV) permit process.

We have always urged patients to ask the dentist about their training to perform these procedures. Unfortunately, most have little experience and even less emergency procedures training. See Dr. Richard Gagne's experience and please review his training.

IV Sedation ($345 per session)

Intravenous Sedation produces a very predictable sedation. Unlike Oral Sedation (pills), the medications are delivered intravenously and can be easily adjusted to the needs of the patient. With longer treatment times, the drugs can be re-administered to keep the patient comfortable at all times. This is not possible with oral medications. IV Sedation also uses pain relieving drugs. The administration of these types of drugs is not normally done in Oral Sedation techniques. When a patient needs complicated dental procedures in a single session, IV Sedation is clearly the method of choice.

The training and educational requirements of the Dental Board of California to perform IV Sedation are extensive. Before the Board issues a permit, the applicant must complete a course that meets the requirements of the American Dental Association. There is also an in-office evaluation of the permit applicant by two evaluators selected by the Board. Dr. Gagne has been practicing IV Sedation since 1991 and has passed two of these evaluations.

Some offices are advertising that they have IV Sedation services for general dentistry. However, what they do not advertise is that it is not the dentist that does the IV Sedation. These offices bring in a Dental Anesthesiologist. This is very expensive, costing over $500 per HOUR. Our fee is not an hourly fee, but a flat fee per session. At Dr. Gagne's office it is Dr. Gagne that does the dentistry and the IV Sedation because of his advanced training and his Dental Board of California issued Conscious Sedation Permit.

See our brochure on our various sedative methods (in PDF format.).