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Post-operative

After Your Dental Sedation

Important safety information if you had sedation through a vein (IV sedation) or gas sedation (inhalation sedation) for dental treatment.

5 min read

Urgent help: who to contact

Call 999 or go to A&E now if you or your escort notice difficulty breathing, confusion, extreme sleepiness, a fit (seizure), or that you cannot be woken after you get home.

For any other worries after sedation, call NHS 111 straight away for advice.

Important — Read This Before Your Appointment

This leaflet has key safety advice for before and after your sedation. If you did not read it before your visit, please read it now.

Before your sedation appointment, you must:

  • Arrange for a responsible adult to come with you to your visit and take you home. You must not travel alone by public transport.
  • Arrange for someone to stay with you for the rest of the day, and ideally overnight.
  • Not drive a car or ride a bike on the day of your visit, even if you feel fine.
  • Not use machines or power tools on the day of your visit.
  • Not drink alcohol for 24 hours before sedation.
  • Your practice will tell you whether you need to change what you eat or drink before sedation. Most people having conscious sedation can have a light meal on the day, but avoid alcohol and large meals. If you have been given fasting instructions, follow them exactly.
  • Take your routine medicines on the day as normal unless your dental team or doctor has told you otherwise. If you have diabetes, ask the sedation team how to manage your medicines and meals on the day.

After Your Sedation — How You May Feel

Sedation affects people in different ways. Most people feel fine quite quickly. But the effects can be hard to spot. They can last longer than you expect.

  • Sleepiness (drowsiness) is the most common effect. It can last for several hours after IV sedation, even when you feel alert.
  • You may remember only parts of the treatment, or nothing at all. This is what the sedation medicine is meant to do, and it is normal. The memory gap (amnesia) can also cover a short time after your visit.
  • You may feel unsteady on your feet. Take your time getting up and moving. Make sure your escort helps you.
  • Some people feel emotional or tearful after sedation. This is a common effect of the medicine, and it passes.
  • You may feel sick (nauseous). Do not eat a big meal straight after your visit. Sip water, and eat only when you feel ready.
  • For gas sedation (inhalation sedation) with nitrous oxide, the effects wear off within minutes of taking off the mask. Your dental team will tell you when you are ready to leave. Once they say you can go, adults do not usually need an escort for the journey home. Children and young people under 16 must always be collected by a responsible adult, including after inhalation (gas) sedation. Your dental team may still advise an escort for an adult, depending on your situation. Always follow their advice.

The 24-Hour Rules — Please Take These Seriously

You may feel completely normal. But the sedation medicine stays in your body for up to 24 hours. It can affect your judgement and how fast you react, without you knowing.

For 24 hours after IV sedation, you must NOT:

  • Drive a car, motorcycle, or bicycle — the sedation affects your judgement even if you feel fine, and it is against the law to drive if medicines make you unfit to drive
  • Use machines, power tools or anything else that could be dangerous
  • Make important personal, money or legal decisions. Your judgement may be affected.
  • Sign legal documents
  • Cook on a hob or in an oven without someone watching
  • Drink alcohol
  • Take sleeping tablets or other calming (sedative) medicines, unless your doctor has prescribed them
  • Be left alone. A responsible adult must be with you.

Eating, Drinking and Rest

Give your body the rest it needs to recover fully from the sedation.

  • Go home and rest. Avoid hard physical activity for the rest of the day.
  • Start with small amounts of food and drink. Sip water first. Then move on to light foods, such as soup, toast or yoghurt. This usually works best.
  • Do not drink alcohol for 24 hours.
  • The aftercare for your dental treatment still applies, for example after a tooth extraction or implant surgery. Please read the aftercare leaflet for that treatment.
  • If you feel tired, sleep. Your body is recovering.

When to Get Urgent Help

Serious problems after dental sedation are rare. But your escort should know what to look out for.

Call 999 straight away if you have:

  • Difficulty breathing, or a change in how fast you are breathing
  • Not being able to wake up from sleep, or barely responding at all
  • A fit (seizure)
  • Severe confusion, or not knowing where you are, that is getting worse, not better
  • Chest pain
  • A severe allergic reaction (a rash, swollen lips or throat, or difficulty breathing)

For other worries after sedation, call NHS 111 for advice straight away, at any time of day or night. This includes feeling sick for a long time, pain you did not expect, or anything that worries you or your escort.

Call 999 or go to A&E now if you find it hard to breathe, swallow or speak, or if swelling spreads to your neck, under your tongue or around your eye. For other urgent problems, contact your dental practice. If it is closed, call NHS 111.

This leaflet is for general information only and does not replace professional dental advice. Your dental team will discuss your individual circumstances and any risks specific to you. Treatment outcomes vary between patients depending on individual circumstances.

Sources

Links checked 18 October 2026.

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For clinicians: IV Conscious Sedation Record notes template, Inhalation Sedation (RA / N2O) notes template, Sedation Pre-Assessment notes template.

Learn more about dental documentation on our blog or see Nosht pricing.

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