Sedation dentistry is used to provide a relaxing and anxiety-free experience for certain people receiving dental treatment.

Sedation is often recommended for “severe dental phobia”. However, there is no consensus as to what constitutes a “severe” phobia. Scores on dental phobia tests bear little or no correlation to the need for (or desirability of) sedation.

Sedation can be useful

if you don’t want to be aware of what’s happening during a procedure and you want to be “out of it”, sedation is the method of choice

if you want a little help to relax - “laughing gas” can give you a pleasant intoxitated feeling

if your fear is procedure-specific (e. g. needles, extractions), especially if you know that the fear would still exist in the presence of an empathetic dentist and adequate pain-control

if you perceive your fears to be completely irrational, and/or

if you have other mental health problems and you feel you’d benefit from sedation.

Sedation may not be a good option

if you’re “terrified of dentists” (as people)

if you fear “being assaulted” (in the broadest sense) or deliberately harmed

if control and trust are major issues

if you’re considering sedation to “make life easier” for your dentist (more about this below), and/or

if you feel you would benefit from a gentle approach which would involve being talked through procedures, going at your pace, and using stop signals.

Does Insurance Cover Sedation Dentistry?

According to DOCS Education, insurance companies do not pay for sedation; however, some non-intravenous sedation procedure codes may apply to your treatment.

For example, if you are undergoing periodontal scaling and root planing of all four quadrants of your mouth, insurance companies may cover the costs of this procedure if it is completed in one appointment if you are sedated, rather than requiring you to stretch out the procedure to four separate appointments.