Sedation Dentistry

[KevinLed]

Can someone recommend a dentist in the Bangkok area that uses sedation (with for example Midazolam / Dormicum)?  I see postings about people's experience with this in Pattaya but I do not see anything about this in Bangkok.  Thanks.  

[kannot]

Last  time I enquired it was  going to cost+50k  baht in BKK.............Uk price 5000 baht so  all my dentistry is generally done in the UK unless an emergency, If you know of anyone doing sedation here please pm me or  post the info back here Thanks

[KittenKong]

I always need a local anaesthetic for cleaning/scaling and I have a lot of trouble getting dentists here to use enough and to wait long enough for it to take effect properly. They always do it in the end though. For my implants the dentist was much quicker to use injections and they were effective. After the initial needle prick I feel nothing at all when local anaesthetic is used correctly so for me that would always be enough.

 

I dont like the idea of sedation or a general anaesthetic though. Some of the Youtube videos of people on those drugs look pretty awful. Also I'm not sure I would trust many dentists here to administer it.

[kannot]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I always need a local anaesthetic for cleaning/scaling and I have a lot of trouble getting dentists here to use enough and to wait long enough for it to take effect properly. They always do it in the end though. For my implants the dentist was much quicker to use injections and they were effective. After the initial needle prick I feel nothing at all when local anaesthetic is used correctly so for me that would always be enough.

 

I dont like the idea of sedation or a general anaesthetic though. Some of the Youtube videos of people on those drugs look pretty awful. Also I'm not sure I would trust many dentists here to administer it.

used it for years (In the UK) great stuff know nothing and sleep  all day afterwards, had implants  root  canals, lobotomy etc etc didnt know a  thing.

Someone has to go with you though as you cant  drive cant do anything...............Im sure my dentists is  like Julia in horrible  bosses when Im under but shes pretty cute

[Sheryl]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/611104-could-someone-recommend-oral-sedation-dentist-in-bangkok/

 

Not without risks when done in a clinic setting.

[KittenKong]

10 hours ago, kannot said:

used it for years (In the UK) great stuff know nothing and sleep  all day afterwards, had implants  root  canals, lobotomy etc etc didnt know a  thing.

 

I've not yet needed a lobotomy, but I've had implants and root canals done entirely painlessly with local anaesthetic. And I've driven myself to/from the clinic in perfect safety and been functioning entirely normally just a couple of hours later in all cases. So I think it's a much better way to go. Up to the individual of course.

[yang123]

Tried hard a few years ago to find a dentist in Bangkok using Midazolam.  Hospitals, clinics etc - all no go.

Surprising, since it's been in common use in the UK for over 30 years and I've lost count of the number of times I've had it without any adverse consequences.

Thai dentists all seemed unaware of it; a very senior (indeed) person at the Bankok Dental Hospital told me its use was "unethical" - how my UK dentist laughed at that one....

[fandango71]

Bangkok Hospital Dental Centre will arrange treatment with midazolam.

 

I don't think it is their preferred option for sedation and I had to ask for it specifically. Once I explained that midazolam is the drug that is routinely used in the U.K. and the reason that I wanted it was due to knowing from previous experience that I am fine with it they were happy to oblige.

 

It isn't cheap though because if they do treatment under sedation with an anaesthetist present they do the work in an operating theatre at the main hospital and have theatre nurses and all sorts present. It added around 30,000 baht to the cost of a 1 hour scale & polish and 5min extraction. Also need to pay for a 5000 baht health check to be given clearance for the sedation (not much more than a weight and blood pressure check and a rip off really).

 

Just as in the UK they won't let you leave the hospital after coming round from the sedation by yourself and have to have somebody with a car to get you home safely. This wasn't possible in my case and they initially told me I would also need to pay for a room and stay at the hospital but then said that as I only lived a 20 to 30 min drive away I could pay 2000 baht for an ambulance to take me home.

[KittenKong]

15 minutes ago, fandango71 said:

It added around 30,000 baht to the cost of a 1 hour scale & polish and 5min extraction. Also need to pay for a 5000 baht health chec

 

Crikey. I just had a full two-hour deep cleaning/scaling of all four quadrants done over two one-hour appointments both with local anaesthetic for 2400B total.

 

One thing I'm not clear about: why exactly do some people want/need general anaesthetic for dental work anyway? If you cant feel what is being done to you (which I certainly cant with local anaesthetic) then what is the advantage of the general? Is it just to overcome irrational fear of the dentist's chair? Or do these people still feel real pain even after local anaesthetic is applied? Just trying to understand.

[fandango71]

1 minute ago, KittenKong said:

 

Crikey. I just had a full two-hour deep cleaning/scaling of all four quadrants done over two one-hour appointments both with local anaesthetic for 2400B total.

 

One thing I'm not clear about: why exactly do some people want/need general anaesthetic for dental work anyway? If you cant feel what is being done to you (which I certainly cant with local anaesthetic) then what is the advantage of the general? Is it just to overcome irrational fear of the dentist's chair? Or do these people still feel real pain even after local anaesthetic is applied? Just trying to understand.

 

In my case it is because local anaesthetic isn't entirely effective and I still feel pain but I believe in a lot of cases it is given to people with phobias or anxiety about dentists. Midazolam isn't a general anaesthetic but what is known as conscious sedatation (although you are only barely conscious and another benefit of midazolam is that you have total amnesia for the time you are under the influence of it so even if the experience is dreadful you will not remember a thing about it).

 

Most hospitals seem to offer to give a general anaesthetic to have dental work done but there is a small risk of dying with any general anaesthetic and personally I wouldn't want to have one unless absolutely necessary for major surgery.

[KittenKong]

16 hours ago, fandango71 said:

In my case it is because local anaesthetic isn't entirely effective and I still feel pain ......

 

Could that be because they didn't apply it properly, or sufficiently, or wait long enough for it to take effect? I generally have trouble getting Thai dentists to use enough on me.

 

I only ask because my teeth are extremely sensitive and there is no way they could possibly be cleaned without injections (Thai dentists always think they can, and they are always wrong), yet once the injections are done properly I feel nothing beyond the initial prick. The same applied to all my three implants and two extractions: no sensation at all of any type apart from the painless grinding sensation of the implant post screw going into the bone, which I found quite amusing.

[fandango71]

On 16/01/2017 at 1:15 AM, KittenKong said:

 

Could that be because they didn't apply it properly, or sufficiently, or wait long enough for it to take effect? I generally have trouble getting Thai dentists to use enough on me.

 

I only ask because my teeth are extremely sensitive and there is no way they could possibly be cleaned without injections (Thai dentists always think they can, and they are always wrong), yet once the injections are done properly I feel nothing beyond the initial prick. The same applied to all my three implants and two extractions: no sensation at all of any type apart from the painless grinding sensation of the implant post screw going into the bone, which I found quite amusing.

 

I don't think it is to do with how it is applied just that with me the local anaesthetic only works up until a certain point. I have been having dental work done under sedation in the UK for years which isn't done at my regular practice but at another practice that specialises in the sedation dentistry. The way it works is that I see my regular dentist for check ups and if any work such as fillings is needed they then refer me to the sedation clinic.

 

A couple of years ago about a week before I was due to move to Thailand I lost a filling and had no choice but to have it replaced without sedation because there is usually a 4 to 6 week wait for the sedation clinic. I was fine with the drilling and grinding etc but when the dentist used the air to clean the debris away it was so excruciating I nearly came out of the chair with the way my whole body convulsed from the pain. Really not very pleasant which is why I am prepared to pay an arm and a leg for the sedation here.