The American Dental Association has recognized that conscious sedation, deep sedation, and general anesthesia are all modalities in dentistry that require advanced training. In their "Guidelines for Teaching the Comprehensive Control of Anxiety and Pain in Dentistry" the association has defined in general terms what it feels that training programs throughout the country should include in their curriculum, where the training should take place, and what should be the qualifications of those teaching the programs. If you take the time to read these guidlines you will find that a "two day course" is no where near adequate to learn these techniques. If you are considering a dentist to sedate you, ask if his/her course has followed these guidelines, or if it was given in a hotel by some unqualified instructor. Also ask if he/she has received a special permit from the Dental Board of California. Any advanced sedative technique requires such a permit. To view the California regulations related to the practice of IV Sedation in California, please click here.

This is the begining paragraph of the Guidlines:

Anxiety and pain control can be defined as the application of various physical, chemical and psychological modalities to the prevention and treatment of preoperative, operative and postoperative patient anxiety and pain. It involves all phases of dentistry and, as such, is one of the most important aspects of dental education. These Guidelines are intended to delineate the scope of anxiety and pain control and to set standards of acceptability for the teaching of this subject at the predoctoral, advanced (graduate and postgraduate) and continuing education levels. They present methods for achieving the objectives identified for each of these phases of instruction, with general descriptions of course content, sequence of instruction, faculty qualifications and suggestions regarding acceptable facilities and equipment. Prerequisites for admission to each level of training also are presented. Finally, these Guidelines identify the kinds of institutions and agencies which should properly provide educational programs of anxiety and pain control.