Dental treatment under general anaesthesia

Dental treatment can be performed under general anaesthesia, if necessary. The most common reason for performing dental treatment under general anaesthesia is dental fear.

Treatment under general anaesthesia is also performed in the case of major oral surgery or overly sensitive gag reflexes. Providing dental care for children is also easy under general anaesthesia. An additional advantage of performing dental treatment under general anaesthesia is that it allows for extensive operations in one appointment if there is more than one procedure to be performed or if it is difficult for the customer to reach the clinic.

Under general anaesthesia, all procedures are typically carried out in their entirety, which saves time and effort in the case of more extensive treatment plans. Hammas Mehiläinen provides the services of fully equipped operating rooms and experienced teams of professionals.

Practically anyone can receive dental treatment under general anaesthesia if an anaesthesiologist does not detect any contraindications for general anaesthesia in the customer’s health. An anaesthesiologist and a dentist will be present during dental treatment performed under general anaesthesia.

If the major dental issues of a person with dental fear can be fixed under general anaesthesia, the regular follow-up examinations can often be performed without anaesthesia. Dental treatment under general anaesthesia can thus help you get rid of dental fear.

Sedation is the administration of drugs that help you relax performed by an anaesthesiologist. If you are administered sedative drugs, you will remain conscious but relaxed throughout the procedure. Sedation alleviates the pain and you will not have a clear memory of the procedure.

Sedation can be used in simple, short-term operations to help you overcome your fear, for example. If your treatment involves the use of sedatives, please ensure that you are accompanied by someone until the morning after the procedure. You are not allowed to drive a car after the procedure. Sedation is included in the Kela reimbursement plan.

The fear of going to the dentist may be so great that you will avoid it to the last. For many, these fears are rooted in childhood and adolescent experiences. What are the remedies to overcome this fear?

In this episode of the Afterwork podcast, Jenni Rotonen, Meri Milash and Petra Soikkeli discuss their own experiences and questions about the dentist visits and dental fear with a dentist from Hammas Mehiläinen.

Listen to the episode of the podcast: Fear and shame at the dentist's bench (in Finnish)