If fear has kept you away for years, you are not unusual and you are not a difficult patient. We offer the full range of sedation, from happy gas through to general anaesthetic, so the level of comfort you need is available here rather than somewhere else. Here is how each option works, what it costs, and what the risks are, explained plainly.
You will not be judged for how long it has been since your last visit.
A consultation is just a conversation. No treatment happens on the day unless you want it to.
You can stop at any point. Nothing goes ahead without your say-so.
Sedation is one option among several. Sometimes a gentler approach is all that is needed.
You leave your consultation with a written quote the same day. No waiting to find out what it costs.
Sedation is not one thing. It runs from mild relaxation where you stay awake and chatting, through to full general anaesthetic where you are unconscious. Practices that offer only the lightest option end up referring anxious patients elsewhere. Because we provide all four levels, we can match the sedation to what you actually need rather than to what happens to be available.
These four options differ in how aware you will be, who administers them, what they cost and how long recovery takes. Your dentist will recommend the lightest option that will realistically work for you.
Not every option suits every patient. What is appropriate for you depends on your medical history, the treatment you need and how long it will take. That is what the consultation is for.
Sedation is genuinely life-changing for some patients and unnecessary for others. An honest assessment matters more than an upsell.
Sometimes the answer is not sedation at all. A longer appointment, breaks whenever you need them, an agreed hand signal to stop, or simply a dentist who explains everything before doing it can be enough. We would rather find the lightest thing that works for you than default to the heaviest.
Tell whoever answers that you are anxious. It changes how we book you in. We can allow more time, choose a quieter part of the day, and make sure your dentist knows before you walk in.
A conversation and an examination. We go through your medical history, what you need, and which of the four options are realistic for you. Nothing is done to your teeth on the day unless you ask for it.
You will not be left waiting to hear what it costs. You leave your consultation with an itemised treatment plan and quote in hand, with the sedation component broken out separately, so you can check it against your health fund and think it over before committing to anything.
You will be given clear instructions covering fasting, medications and arranging a lift home. Following them matters, particularly for IV sedation and general anaesthetic. If anything is unclear, call us rather than guessing.
You are monitored throughout. For deeper sedation an anaesthetist watches your breathing, heart rate and oxygen levels continuously while the dentist works. For most patients the appointment passes in what feels like a few minutes.
You rest until you are ready to leave, then go home with someone you trust. You will be given written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything concerns you.
Sedation pricing confuses people because it is not one fee. Understanding the three parts makes it much easier to compare quotes and check your cover.
The fillings, extractions or other work itself. This is priced the same whether or not you are sedated, and your health fund treats it as normal dental treatment.
The sedative itself plus the time and monitoring of whoever administers it. Deeper sedation costs more because it requires a specialist anaesthetist and continuous monitoring.
Applies where treatment takes place in a day surgery or hospital setting rather than a dental chair, which is typically the case for general anaesthetic.
One thing worth knowing: because you can have several procedures completed in a single sedated appointment, treatment that would otherwise take three or four separate visits can often be done at once. That frequently costs less overall than repeating sedation across multiple appointments.
Health fund cover for the sedation component varies enormously between policies, and Medicare rebates may apply to the anaesthetist’s fee in some circumstances. We give you itemised costs with item numbers so you can check your own cover before you commit, rather than finding out afterwards.
You will have your quote before you leave the consultation. We do not send costs through days later, and nothing is booked until you have had time to look at the numbers.
Sedation treatment is often more than a routine visit, particularly where several procedures are done in one sitting. Interest-free payment plans through Afterpay and humm let you start treatment now and pay across manageable instalments.
Any procedure involving sedation carries risk, and that risk increases with the depth of sedation. Most pages on this subject skip that part. We would rather you heard it from us.
Common and usually short-lived effects include drowsiness, nausea, headache, a sore throat after a general anaesthetic, and feeling unsteady for several hours afterwards. Some patients experience bruising where the drip was placed.
Serious complications are rare but real, and are more likely in patients with certain underlying conditions, particularly those affecting breathing and the heart. This is why an honest medical history matters more than almost anything else you tell us. Leaving something out to avoid delaying your treatment is the single most dangerous thing a patient can do.
Every procedure carries risk. Sedation is not suitable for everyone, and a full assessment by a registered dentist is required before any recommendation can be made. Your dentist and, where relevant, your anaesthetist will discuss the specific risks that apply to you before you consent to anything.
Only under general anaesthetic. With happy gas or oral sedation you stay awake, just relaxed. With IV twilight sedation most people drift and remember little or nothing, though you are not technically unconscious. A general anaesthetic is the only option where you are genuinely asleep and unaware throughout.
The lightest one that will realistically work for you. That depends on how anxious you are, what treatment you need, how long it will take and your medical history. Someone needing one filling and someone needing full mouth surgery will get very different answers, and both are discussed at the consultation before anything is booked.
With happy gas, oral sedation and IV sedation, usually yes. Sedation manages anxiety and awareness while local anaesthetic manages pain in the specific area being treated. If needles are your particular fear, tell us, because with sedation you will typically be relaxed before the injection happens and often will not remember it.
Happy gas wears off within minutes. Oral sedation can leave you drowsy for the rest of the day. IV sedation and general anaesthetic both require someone to take you home and stay with you, and you should not drive, work, sign anything important or drink alcohol for the rest of the day.
Yes, if anxiety would otherwise stop you attending at all. For many anxious patients, being sedated for the first visit or two is what breaks a cycle of avoidance, and later appointments become manageable with something lighter or nothing at all.
Yes. Happy gas is commonly used for children and is often all that is needed. Deeper sedation is assessed individually, taking into account your child’s age, medical history and the treatment required. Talk to us at the consultation and we will explain what is appropriate for your child.
At your consultation, in writing, before you leave. The quote itemises the dental treatment and the sedation separately, with item numbers, so you can check it against your health fund. If the total is more than you can pay at once, we can talk through interest-free payment plans at the same appointment.
No. You will leave with a written plan and costs, and you can take as long as you need. Nothing is booked until you say so.
You will not be the first person that week. Our job is to fix the problem, not to comment on how it got there. Plenty of our patients came to us after a decade away.
Book a consultation and we will talk through all four options. No treatment on the day unless you want it, and no pressure either way. If it has been years, that is fine. It is where a lot of our patients start.
