With the exception of nitrous oxide, which wears off fairly quickly, most sedatives used in oral surgery will not be fully reversed by the time you leave our office. Your oral surgeon will monitor you until you have stabilized after the procedure, but it still can take up to 24 hours for your system to fully clear the medications.
You will not be able to drive during this time, so you must make arrangements for a responsible adult to escort you home after your surgery. This person should also be available to stay with you for several hours after you get home to monitor your safety, as well. You also shouldn’t do things that could put you at risk while you are not fully alert, such as cooking or operating machinery. You should also avoid alcohol and other depressant drugs until you have recovered fully from sedation.
There also may be some variation in the recovery process from patient to patient, so one of our oral surgeons may ask you about previous experiences with sedation or anesthesia, which may give you a guide as to what to expect after this procedure.
Your healing process also will influence your recovery time. Although the sedatives will wear off completely in about a day, you still may need to take it easy for a few days so that your body can heal properly after the surgery.
Depending on the nature of your surgery, you may have different options for sedation. Discuss these thoroughly with your oral surgeon to be sure that you are choosing the method that best meets your needs for both the procedure and the post-operative recovery.
If you’ve seen any of those YouTube videos of post-operative wisdom tooth extraction patients saying and doing goofy things, you have a good sense of the lingering effects of sedatives. Plan ahead for your surgery so that you will not need to do anything but rest during those hours.
Call our team at Great River OMS today to ask any specific sedation questions you may have.