Harper Lee needs a tooth extracted

[The Quahog]

There are certainly different degrees of sedation,depending on the extent of a procedure- clipping a nasty hot spot in a cooperative dog might just require a tad of sedation to make them less anxious, a good thorough ear cleaning on a very difficult dog would take more. The estimated amount, or the coice of drug, used varies. It's a bit of an ' art form'.

As for general anesthesia there are no official 'levels'. Either they are anesthetized or they aren't. But again, anesthesia level can be moderated. There is a dial on the anesthetic machine that monitors depth of anesthesia. For a major orthopedic surgery you want to make sure you have good deep anesthesia, for extracting a loose tooth you let the monitoring technician know ' keep her light'.

And sure, we extract many loose teeth on office calls. It will be interesting whenever i retire for my replacement to sort out the various abbreviations we use on the records. For example, the record might say ' 'first and second upper right premolar extracted, WWD.'
WWD stands for 'Wild West Dentistry. - Dr. Mac

 

[The Quahog]

As for general anesthesia there are no official 'levels'.

Just to clarify that last remark, what I meant to say is that, while there are levels of anesthesia, you can't sort of half anesthetize a dog in something half way between sedation and a general. You choose one or the other. General anesthesia entails the same concerns, whether it is minor or major. -Dr. Mac

 

[famous seamus]

There are certainly different degrees of sedation,depending on the extent of a procedure- clipping a nasty hot spot in a cooperative dog might just require a tad of sedation to make them less anxious, a good thorough ear cleaning on a very difficult dog would take more. The estimated amount, or the coice of drug, used varies. It's a bit of an ' art form'.

As for general anesthesia there are no official 'levels'. Either they are anesthetized or they aren't. But again, anesthesia level can be moderated. There is a dial on the anesthetic machine that monitors depth of anesthesia. For a major orthopedic surgery you want to make sure you have good deep anesthesia, for extracting a loose tooth you let the monitoring technician know ' keep her light'.

And sure, we extract many loose teeth on office calls. It will be interesting whenever i retire for my replacement to sort out the various abbreviations we use on the records. For example, the record might say ' 'first and second upper right premolar extracted, WWD.'
WWD stands for 'Wild West Dentistry. - Dr. Mac

I copy that, 'pardner.'

Hugs,
Kate