In order to address this issue in a field of sedation dentistry has been greatly improved and dentist are now able to offer different levels of sedation according to the patient's fear intensity, the following are the levels of sedation which allow dentists to work with highly nervous patients had successfully perform root canals, wisdom tooth extraction and such.
-- Minimal sedation
This is a little observation which is applied to people who are not completely afraid of a dental procedure but they would prefer to be mildly sedated in order to help them relax throughout the treatment.
-- Moderate or conscious sedation
This is a slightly stronger type of sedation which allows patients to remain awake and somewhat drowsy while the dentist is doing a dental operation. Most people will partially remember the experience due to the intensity of the sedation.
-- Deep sedation
This treatment is applied to people who are very nervous and uncomfortable with dental procedures, while they are still conscious to a certain level, they may not remember the experience. Even though this is a stronger level of sedation the patient can still be awakened.
-- General anesthesia
This one is often applied to people who are going to have a serious or intrusive intervention performed such as a root canal, wisdom tooth extraction and such. This type of sedation successfully eliminates the chances of extremely nervous patients from being conscious during such procedures and since they are not conscious of what is going on they will have no memory of the operation.
Some of the methods that are used to sedate patients and create a more comfortable environment for them are: inhaled minimal sedation which often involves laughing gas (nitrous oxide), oral sedation were the patient needs to take pills such as Halcion, moderate sedation were the patient receives a sedative through a vein and finally deep sedation which requires general anesthesia or drugs that will make the patient completely unconscious until the effects have worn off or are reversed through medication.