Question 1

What does a dental anesthesiologist actually do?

Accepted Answer

A dental anesthesiologist is a dentist with additional hospital-based residency training in anesthesia. In a case, that clinician does nothing but anesthesia: screening you beforehand, placing the IV, managing your airway and depth of sedation, watching your monitors continuously, and getting you safely awake. Your dentist does the dentistry. Two clinicians, two jobs — that separation is the core safety feature.

Question 2

Is anesthesia in a dental office as safe as in a hospital?

Accepted Answer

For appropriately selected patients, office-based anesthesia has an excellent safety record. The word doing the work there is selected. Screening decides everything: airway, cardiac and respiratory history, sleep apnea, weight, medications, and prior anesthetic problems. When a patient's risk profile belongs in a hospital, we say so and help arrange it rather than take the case.

Question 3

Will I feel or remember anything?

Accepted Answer

Under moderate IV sedation most patients remember arriving and then remember waking up, with nothing in between. Under general anesthesia there is no awareness at all. Local anesthetic is still used during treatment so you're comfortable as the sedation wears off.

Question 4

How long does it take to wake up?

Accepted Answer

You'll open your eyes within minutes of the anesthetic being stopped, and be ready to leave with an escort typically within thirty to sixty minutes once you meet discharge criteria. The residual grogginess lasts several hours, which is why the rest of the day should be free.

Question 5

I have sleep apnea. Does that rule me out?

Accepted Answer

Not automatically, but it changes the plan. Sleep apnea affects airway management and the choice of medications and depth. Bring your diagnosis, your sleep study if you have it, and your CPAP settings to the screening call. Some patients with severe apnea are safer in a hospital, and we'll tell you if that's you.

Question 6

Do I really need someone to take me home?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it's non-negotiable. You cannot drive, take the subway alone, or ride home solo in a taxi or rideshare. A responsible adult has to accompany you and stay with you afterward. Cases get cancelled on the day over this, so arrange it early.

Question 7

When do I have to stop eating and drinking?

Accepted Answer

Follow the exact instructions given at your screening call, since they depend on your appointment time and your health history. As a general frame, solid food stops well before the case — commonly eight hours — and clear liquids stop at a defined cutoff a few hours out. Guessing here is the most common reason a case has to be postponed.

Question 8

Can I take my regular medications that morning?

Accepted Answer

Some yes, some no. Blood pressure, seizure and reflux medications are often continued with a sip of water; diabetes medications, anticoagulants and certain weight-loss drugs frequently need adjusting or holding. You'll get a medication-by-medication instruction during screening — don't improvise.

Question 9

Do you come to my dentist, or do I come to you?

Accepted Answer

We come to the dental office. The service is mobile: the anesthesiologist, monitors, equipment and medications travel to practices across SoHo, Tribeca, NoHo, Greenwich Village and the rest of Lower Manhattan. If your dentist hasn't worked with an anesthesiologist before, we'll speak with them directly.

Question 10

What if my dentist doesn't offer sedation?

Accepted Answer

That's the normal situation. Most general dentists don't provide their own anesthesia — they bring in a dental anesthesiologist for the day. Have your dentist call us, or tell us who they are and we'll open the conversation.

Question 11

How far in advance should this be scheduled?

Accepted Answer

Give it a couple of weeks where possible. That leaves room for screening, any physician clearance, and fitting your case into an anesthesia block at your dentist's office. Urgent cases are sometimes possible — call and ask.

The questions patients ask before they agree to be put to sleep.

Not on the list?