What do they use to put people to sleep during surgery?

Question

My friend is really freaking out, and he thinks he going to die because they have to put him to sleep inorder to lower his gums, give him a root canal and remove 4 wisdom teeth with have yet to grow in yet. What do they use to put him to sleep, what are the chances he could die or have a reaction. His step brother had a seisure from it, but his real brother was fine, either way, he's really scared. Is there anything I could tell him that would calm him down? Please, he's really scared, we need infomation on this stuff.

Answer 1

They'll probably use an inhaled anaesthetic called isoflurane. It's very safe and doesn't usually cause the nausea and vomiting that people sometimes think of when they think about anesthetics. I've seen it used tons of times, and I had my wisdom teeth out while asleep on this drug, never have I seen or experienced a problem with it. The only thing was that I would get a whiff of it off and on for a couple days after surgery as it cleared out of my lungs.

Answer 2

Just recently on the news they were talking about this. There IS a chance you might never wake up, but there's something that doctors can use to wake you up again if they do it right. The death rate used to be very high, but now is MUCH lower. Your friend is trying to scare you, I've had many surgeries. I'm fine. Other people have had surgeries, they're fine. If you're really nervous, ask the surgeons if they have the special stuff that can wake you up again in the room (forget what it's called...), because the reason it was in the news was because somebody died and they didn't have the stuff. Which is rare. Rare = news.

Answer 3

Being "put to sleep" for surgery can mean different things. "Conscious sedation" is the anesthesia procedure that most people receive to have their wisdom teeth out. This involved having an IV placed, and the anesthetic drugs are given through the IV. These drugs are usually narcotics (like morphine, demerol, fentanyl), benzodiazepines (like valium or versed), and sometimes an "induction agent" like propofol. In these cases, the patient is sedated to the point where they are REALLY out of it, but can still follow verbal commands and are still breathing on their own.

General Anesthesia may be given by both IV and inhaled medications. In a state of general anesthesia, the patient is un-arousable, and usually must receive breathing support. The patient gets an IV, an "induction agent" (like propofol) is given to put the patient to sleep, and then the patient is intubated (a breathing tube is placed down their throat to protect their airway). Inhalation anesthetics (sevoflurane, isoflurane, desflurane, etc.) are given to the patient through the breathing tube as a machine breathes for the patient. This keeps the patient asleep during the whole dental/surgical procedure.

If the procedure is shorter, conscious sedation will probably be used. If this is planned for an operating room, and its going to be a long procedure, general anesthesia may be used. Either way, the patient should have all questions answered by the doctor doing the anesthesia well BEFORE the time for the procedure!!

Answer 4

Hey, I work as a veterinary technician. I had an emergency surgery 7 weeks ago, and guess what. They used almost the same anesthesia on me that we use on animals. So I know how safe it is. Anesthesia always has its risks, but they are very small for young people without a history of kidney/liver probs. For a dental procedure, they won't even have him out hard or long. Don't worry about it, probs are rare.

Answer 5

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 6

General anesthesia is usually used for sedation during surgery. Please tell him he will be fine. The doctor who administers the anesthesia will monitor him constantly throughout his surgey. If any problems arise they will stop his surgery and wake him. You must put your trust into your doctor. Technology is very advanced so he will be closely monitored.Before you can recieve sedation your history of your family will be reviewed and they will make the decision that it is okay for him to recieve it.During these procedures it would be miserable to get all these things done. A root canal takes 45 minuts,the gum procedure 30-60 minutes,plus the pulling of his teeth which have to be removed from below the gum. He is going to want to be asleep. He will be just fine and healed before you know it. Give him support and let him know he will be okay. Good Luck to him.

Answer 7

sound like he will get narcosis - as you say, "put to sleep". If your friend is worried then he sure should ask about the type of anesthesia (and also if there are some options that may be considered in his particular case) and also require all necessary tests that will determine if he is fit for narcosis - like when i had narcosis (quite short) they automatically tested my kidneys and heart in advance and they asked many questions. for people that have some conditions (like old people that have weak heart or so) there are some more delicate alternatives available.

And also everybody is more or less worried before an operation so they give a take-it-easy shot to everybody just before the narcosis itself to help them relax their mind -and body - before they get to the operating theatre.

oh, better not think of the times when narcosis was not available ...

Answer 8

I've had my wisdom teeth out with just local anesthetic; I was fine; I just felt pressure.
I worked with a periodontist and ALL our perio surgeries (removal of excess gum tissue; Bone grafts; tissue grafts, etc) was done with just local anesthetic and people were great. They were really stressed when they came in for the surgery. I told them that their gums would just feel like a pizza burn and at their 1 wk post op check they agreed that Motrin took care of that post op pain. They thought I was crazy at first but they DID agree...
Everyone reacts differently to anesthetic whether it's local, IV, or general. Remember that the dental team is trained to handle this kind of situation that may happen.
He needs to express all his concerns at his pre-op check

Answer 9

It's general anesthesia. You could reassure him that reactions to it are rare, and that just because his step brother had one doesn't mean he's going to. Reactions to it tend to run in families and his step brother isn't a blood relative.

Answer 10

TO HAVE THIS MUCH WORK AT ONE TIME HE'D WANT TO BE ASLEEP. THE SPECIALLY TRAINED DENTAL ANESTHESIOLOGIST HAS SPECIAL EQUIPMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT NOTHING GOES WRONG.CALL AND ASK MORE ON HOW THIS IS DONE.