History of Anesthesia

A Little History:

Dentists have been seeking methods of pain control associated with dental treatment since the beginning of their profession. It was the work of two dentists who introduced anesthesia to both the medical and dental professions. First, Dr. Horace Wells, was considered as the discoverer of anesthesia, and was the first to use nitrous oxide as an anesthetic agent on humans in 1844. Second, Dr. William T.G. Morton conducted the first public demonstration of general anesthesia utilizing diethyl ether in 1846. In fact, Dentist Anesthesiologists have been instrumental in bringing Office-Based Ambulatory Anesthesia to the fields of Dentistry and Modern Medicine.

In the late 1950s, perhaps due to a shortage of physician anesthesiologists, dentists were recruited and fully trained in the Medical Specialty of Anesthesia. General Anesthesia is a Specialty in Medicine & Dentistry.  This continual pursuit of pain management by dentists and the recruitment into medical anesthesia residency programs helped create what we know now as the Specialty of “Dental Anesthesiology” and the  Dentist Anesthesiologist (1223D0004X).

Today, Dentist Anesthesiologists have many modalities available to them for patient management: local anesthesia, oral sedation, nitrous oxide, intravenous conscious sedation, and total intravenous and inhalational general anesthesia. In fact, In-Office Sedation & General Anesthesia is proven to be a safe, convenient, cost-effective and an appropriate means of producing a positive physical and psychological result for dental patients.