Dr. Steven Small has dedicated more than 25 years to the practice of Dentistry Asleep™, providing a full range of dental care with gentle anesthesia sleep for complete comfort during all treatments.

Millions of us find dentistry a challenge – some find it merely uncomfortable or unpleasant, while others find it overwhelmingly difficult, even seemingly impossible to tolerate. Studies show that a large percentage of people simply avoid getting the dental care they need because of the experience itself.

For many people Dentistry Asleep™ is their only alternative – the only way they can or will accept and receive the dentistry they need, want and deserve.

For many people Dentistry Asleep™ is a welcome solution to dramatically improve the experience and achieve truly Total Comfort.

For many people Dentistry Asleep™ is comfort bonus primarily for convenience and efficient time management.

A single visit to the dentist for one procedure can take up almost a whole day, factoring in things like travel, parking and waiting. The lack of time is a real barrier to truly thorough, comprehensive care for those with busy schedules. Mega Sessions allow amazing efficiency – Total Comfort™ lets the dental team perform multiple procedures and maximize every minute. The real benefit from utilizing the Dentistry Asleep™ treatment model is the time it saves for busy people.

IMAGINE
Total Comfort: Completely eliminate the unpleasant experiences of dentistry — its sights, sounds, scents, sensations and stresses — just gently snooze or choose complete sleep while your procedure is carried out in assured Total Comfort.

Mega Sessions: The time saved is an invaluable aspect of Dentistry Asleep Total Comfort™ with sedation or complete anesthesia sleep allowing for Mega Sessions — where hours seem like seconds. Multiple procedures are possible in one session, and full-mouth comprehensive care can be done in just one or two visits.

Dentistry Asleep™ is not new. Anesthesia for dentistry has been offered for more than 30 years by a select few such as Small who have formal post-graduate training in anesthesia. The University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry, where Small received his training and spent 25 years as associate professor of anesthesia, has a three-year post-doctoral program to train dentists to become anesthesiologists for dentistry.

Recently, “sedation” has become a trend for general dentists who are not trained in anesthesia. How do you choose where to go and who should help you? Small sees it as pretty black and white. “Dentistry Asleep™ is a full-time vocation for me and my entire team. I don’t offer Dentistry Asleep™ as part of my practice – it is my practice,” explains Small. “Some general dentists have trained to offer mild sedation without having actual formal training in anesthesia,” he continues. “For me it’s extremely important to have the competency to give more than just mild sedation if that is best for the patient – but that is not an option for any general dentist.”
If a mild dosage isn’t enough, Small will gently increase the IV drip and go into twilight sedation or even complete sleep, if the patient needs or wants it. Having this flexibility requires the full extent of anesthesia training, which Small is an expert in and has many years of experience.  

Small explains, “Some dental offices bring in a travelling anesthetist who travels from office to office with all of their equipment. I don’t think that is ideal. The ideal solution is to choose a practice dedicated exclusively to Dentistry Asleep™, based on the full complement of a full-time professional anesthetist, specially trained support staff, “hospital”-calibre facilities, and top-of-the-line equipment for dental anesthesia and sedation. This approach is an integral part of the practice all day, every day. My practice is dedicated exclusively to Dentistry Asleep™ with a passion for extraordinary results.”

WHAT IS DENTISTRY ASLEEP?
A full range of sedation and anesthesia techniques developed specifically for dentistry to create the Total Comfort™ of zero pain and zero stress:

Gentle sedation — a mild tranquilizer (i.e. Valium tablet or laughing gas) creates a calm euphoria or drowsiness to make the dentistry experience easier. Some general dentists are trained in this technique.

Twilight sedation — a state of “barely aware and don’t care” that legally requires the presence of an anesthetist. An IV drip allows second-by-second control of the depth of sedation.

Complete sleep — the patient is fully asleep. An IV drip allows for complete sedation control.

How is Dentistry Asleep™ anesthesia different from Surgical Hospital Anesthesia? — Major surgery requires far deeper anesthesia, which involves a breathing tube and a machine to breathe for you. This is far beyond the level of sleep that is used for dentistry.

Small’s facility is part modern dental practice and part “private hospital,” complete with Registered Nurses and a full recovery area. They have Registered Dental Hygienists, Certified Dental Assistants, a Registered Denture Therapist, and on-site specialists for endodontics (root canals) and periodontics (gum surgery).

The full-time focus on anesthesia and sedation integrated into a modern dental practice makes Dentistry Asleep™ a safe and simple choice.

“My personal promise is to provide extraordinary dentistry complete with a full array of technology and the Total Comfort of Dentistry Asleep™, and a deep compassion and caring for the thousands of people who seek my services,” says Small. •

Dr. Small can be reached at (416) 968 - 7900 or visit his website at www.drstevensmall.com