General anaesthesia is when a patient is put to sleep during an operation.

          General anaesthesia is controlled poisoning and there is a risk of death or serious lifelong problems as a result of complications of the poison. In hospital operating rooms one doctor administers the general anaesthesia while another doctor performs the operation. Unfortunately, dentists do not always have another doctor present who specializes in general anaesthesia and because of this, the dentist must split his attention between the actual operation and the general anaesthesia administration.

          Britain has banned the use of general anaesthesia in dental offices and requires dental surgeons to use hospital facilities where British patients can be revived and treated if a serious complication occurs.

          The risk of death is only part of the risk involved in general anaesthesia. When you open and close your mouth normally there is only so far that you can comfortably go. Beyond this comfortable limit it becomes very uncomfortable to stay open. When you are under general anaesthesia the dentist does not know how far your mouth opens and because of this you may be opened beyond your normal limit. This over-opening can cause permanent Temporomandibular joint damage.

          When you are awake and communicating with your dentist, you are a person. When you are under general anaesthesia, you are a body. If a dentist doesn't want to be bothered with the person, he will want you asleep.

          With medical surgeries, the anaesthesiologist places a plastic tube though your mouth down into your throat. This tube assists you with breathing because the anaesthetic depresses your breathing. The placement of this tube can damage your teeth or cause joint damage by holding your mouth open in a fixed position beyond the amount of time you could normally tolerate this opening.

          After general anaesthesia there is a recovery period where someone else must bring you home and care for you. This is due to the effects of the general anaesthetic which can leave you with a headache and drawn out feeling for a day or two. With local anaesthesia, there is often no need to bring anyone else to your oral surgery to assist you with getting home. The recovery period is short because there is less for your body to deal with.

          Whenever possible, first consider having oral surgery without general anaesthesia. Most oral surgeries can be done using excellent local anaesthesia without the need to be put out. Not having to pay extra for the general anaesthesia also saves a great deal of money.