Dental Sedation | NZ Society for Sedation in Dentistry
The New Zealand Society for Sedation in Dentistry is the national body for sedation in dental practice. We train New Zealand’s sedation teams, certify their competence, and work with the Dental Council and the profession on the standards that keep sedation safe.
Anxiety and avoidance
Anxiety and fear around dental treatment are more common than you might think — and the reasons are many. With fear comes avoidance, and when dental problems are left unaddressed they can have serious long-term consequences for your health.
For many people, even the idea of a routine check-up can feel overwhelming, and shame keeps them from picking up the phone.
Sedation in dentistry is about providing a respectful, comfortable and non-threatening dental experience. It allows people to move past fear and avoidance and take care of their dental health. If that sounds like you, talk to your dentist — or find a sedation-trained dentist near you.
What sedation is — and what it isn’t
Sedation uses medication to lower anxiety and awareness during dental treatment. It is not a general anaesthetic: you remain responsive throughout, and because the medicines cause a degree of amnesia, most people remember little or nothing afterwards. Many describe it as having slept through treatment, even though they were never unconscious.
Sedation is a continuum. It runs from full consciousness through minimal, moderate and deep sedation to general anaesthesia, with no hard boundaries between the levels. That is why sedation is a trained discipline rather than simply a drug: a sedationist must keep a patient at the intended level, recognise when they have drifted deeper, and manage it safely.
How sedation is given
Inhalation sedation. Nitrous oxide breathed through a soft nasal mask. It takes effect within minutes, can be adjusted continuously during treatment, and wears off quickly once the mask comes off — most patients simply carry on with their day.
Oral sedation. A sedative tablet taken before treatment to take the edge off anxiety. It is simple, but its effect varies from person to person and cannot be adjusted once swallowed, so it best suits milder anxiety and shorter procedures. You will need someone to take you home.
Intravenous sedation. The mainstay for significant dental anxiety and for longer or more complex treatment. A sedative — most commonly midazolam — is given through a small cannula in the hand or arm and titrated in small doses, so the depth of sedation is matched to you and adjusted throughout. You are monitored continuously, and cared for in recovery until you are ready to go home with your escort.
Advanced intravenous techniques. Experienced sedationists with additional training use combinations such as midazolam with fentanyl, or computer-controlled target-controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol and remifentanil with continuous depth-of-sedation monitoring — giving very precise, stable sedation for the patients and procedures that need it. These are the techniques taught in the Society’s advanced courses.
What makes it safe
A trained and certified team. Unhurried assessment of your health, your medicines and your airway before any sedation is planned. Continuous monitoring while you are sedated. A team current in resuscitation. Structured recovery before you go home. These requirements are set by the Dental Council, and meeting them is what NZSSD training exists to do.
For dental professionals
NZSSD runs New Zealand’s sedation training pathway — from monitoring the sedated patient, through IV midazolam certification, to advanced multi-drug and target-controlled infusion techniques — designed to meet the Dental Council’s formal sedation training requirements. Dental sedation courses → Join NZSSD →
About the Society
NZSSD is an incorporated society run by dental practitioners, founded to promote the safe use of sedation in dentistry. We provide education and certification for sedation teams, contribute to national policy — including the Society’s submission on the 2026 revision of the Dental Council’s sedation standard — and maintain a directory of sedation dentists.