Treatment of mentally disabled patients with intravenous sedation in a dental clinic outpatient setting.

Treating the special care patient is challenging for the treating dentist and dentist anesthesiologist. The goal is to have a patient free of disease and pain restored with aesthetic and functional use of his/her oral cavity. The challenge is to incorporate the patient's medical, physical, behavioral, financial, and oral hygiene considerations into this goal. This article describes clinical techniques used to treat special care patients under intravenous sedation in an outpatient dental clinic setting. The discussion includes how to make a preoperative dental diagnosis, how to start an intravenous line painlessly, intravenous medications used in outpatient sedation, clinical tips for dentistry with special care patients, and postoperative evaluation.