"Happy pills"! Have you heard about it?? You may or may not. But let me tell you a little about it.
Medically these drugs are named Benzodiazepines or Benzos as they like to call them in the United States. These are Anti- Anxiety pills and prescribed for the treatment of anxiety,insomnia, agitation,seizures & muscle spasms.
What is important to me and what I will be talking about is their use in dentistry.
Many people love to have beautiful smiles........who doesn't? but there is a small little problem that comes with it which is that they still feel anxious going to the dentist. Now, do you want a nice white smile without going through the anxiety and stress that come with it?? Oh yeah , you definitely do.
Here is the solution and it is very simple. Benzo pills are excellent to use and implement before dental appointments.
There are several dental sedative protocols that can give many patients the chance to go through their dental treatments without feeling anxious or stressed.
Even if you don't feel stressed going to your dental appointment, you can still benefit from benzo pills and feel more calm and relaxed during the procedure.
Let us talk about some of these drugs:
Valium: this is the trade name of the drug. The generic is diazepam . Valium has been in the market since the 1960's.It has long duration of effectiveness.It stays in your body for like 20-100 hours until it goes out totally.Dose ranges from 5-10mg.
This drug is used for insomnia in first place but it has its role in dentistry and I will come back to this later.
Halcion: this is the trade name of triazolam. This drug is very popular in the United States.It is used commonly before dental appointments; very safe drug. The popularity of this drug comes from its amnesic properties (memory loss).So after finishing your dental appointment, you can barely remember anything.This drug is used for short appointments ranging from 1to 2 hours.The drug's half life (duration of staying in your body) is 1.5-5 hours. It can be mixed with Vistaril; an anti-histamine drug to get more extended effect.
Ativan:This is the trade name of the generic lorazepam. It is used to treat anxiety in first place. It has high level of amnesic effect.You barely remember anything after your dental treatment. Dosage ranges from 2 to 3 mg. It kicks in after about one hour.Duration of action is 6 to 8 hours and it stays up to 14 hours in your body.
Versed: The generic is midazolam.It is a short acting benzo drug.Excellent for short appointments.It still has the same level of effectiveness as other benzos. Half life is about 1 to 3 hours. Lasts for as little as 1 hour. Kicks in after 10 to 20 minutes. Excellent to use in dentistry. Dormicum is the alternative brand known in Lebanon .
There are two other drugs that have anti-anxiety effect without being benzos. These drugs are Vistaril and Sonata.
Vistaril: The generic is hydroxyzine; it is an antihistamine drug .It has anti-anxiety effect without amnesic properties. Can be mixed with benzo drug. Duration of action is 3-6 hours. Half life time is 3-7 hours.
Sonata is the trade name for Zaleplon. Used for insomnia. Duration of effectiveness is 1 to 2 hours. It quickly gets out of your body in an hour or two.
It is very important to mention that all benzo drugs are only given by prescription meaning that you can not get them from the pharmacy as an OTC(over-the counter) drugs.
Now you should know that you can not take benzo drug with other CNS depressants.You should not drink alcohol while taking benzo pills as well.
Going back to Valium. The best protocol for oral sedation to be used in dentistry is as follows: Valium( diazepam) can be given to patients the night before the appointment while Triazolam can be given one hour before the treatment.
This is the best protocol for benzo drugs when used before dental appointments.
Valium is not always necessary to take the night before. Most of the time, it is more than enough to take one pill of triazolam one hour before the treatment.
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