Can someone explain exactly what this means to me?

I thought I understood ... but I just went through a very unsettling procedure and I'm not sure if what happened to me falls under lack of understanding, lack of communication, or something worse.

Regardless, I'd really like to remedy my apparent lack of understanding of the term.

Thank you for ANY information. (And I did try searching but couldn't find anything specific.)

Kristen

I have a very brief understanding of terms used for putting a patient to sleep. From what I know about IV sedation, the patient is given sedation drugs thru an IV so the dentist can do whatever dental procedure is scheduled. They still may be able to hear and feel some of whats happening. Theres many different levels of sedation. Im not sure if the IV sedation knocks the patient out completely or addresses a patients pain. Some forms of putting a patient to sleep for procedures allow the patient to still hear and feel some of whats happening. Personally, Im NOT a fan of being sedated. I greatly dislike feeling disoriented and groggy after being sedated. I dont care for the local anesthesia or the feeling of half of my face being numb for hours. When Im given a choice (for a biopsy) I have the doc just do the biopsy without sedation, anesthesia or even a local shot to numb the area.

Ah, well, then you would have liked the sedation I got ... because it did absolutely nothing. Which is why I am trying to understand properly what it was intended to do. I'm *here* so it's not like I've never had procedures before, both large and small, but I've never had an experience like that one, and it terrified me. As did the lack of compassion by the medical professionals involved.

Thank you for your answer ... it actually does give me a lot of information.

Oh, thats horrible!!! What a terrible experience to go thru!!!

Having the IV sedation should help the patient to relax and not feel everything being done. At least thats my idea of it. When getting something done with the IV sedation, patients should have someone drive them. I dont always have someone available to drive me which is another reason why I avoid being sedated. I remember my oral surgeon using the term "twilight". Thats another one where you are not 100% asleep but for me it knocks me out completely, and I sleep the rest of the day. I think it was explained to me that twilight is the state where you just begin to fall asleep. I cant remember if it was an IV or gas that was used just whatever they did, they walked out of the room and that was the last thing I have a clear memory of. I only have a fuzzy memory of having something done but not exactly what went on while I was in their "twilight".

Thank you for sharing your experience even though it was a bad one. Now I know to never go for an IV sedation!

I think it was supposed to do something. They insist a caregiver stay on site (this version of the procedure is done in-office) and do all the driving. And whatever was going on, they kept saying, "Give her more X", X being whatever the IV drug was (I think I know now). It just happened not to work. I could have driven myself home quite well, except for being so angry that it would have been unwise to do so anyway. The pain part (the shots) seemed to mostly do their job.

My husband says that anytime I am *that* polite and obedient, he can tell something's gone very, very wrong and I'm about to blow ... he didn't know what was up, but he supported my body language and verbal indicators of, "I want to leave NOW." I just love that my indicators of going 'volcano' are politeness and compliance, LOL.

There were other issues with the appointment and have been other issue with the facility, and this is making us see all of it in a different light.

Oh, dear. That's a nightmare of mine. Sorry you had to go through that. I had 3 bony wisdom teeth extracted with iv sedation and gas. I came to mid-extraction. I was pretty scary. I couldn't talk. I could feel what they were doing in my mouth. I remember moving my tongue and jabbing it with an instrument. I heard them listening to music and chatting about a magazine article. The oral surgeon said she thought my nose was itchy, and suggested someone scratch it for me and then I was out again, thank goodness. I think you're right- you should have been unaware.