Although you may have heard sedation dentistry described as “sleep dentistry,” this is inaccurate in most cases. In the old days' sedation dentistry was only available under general anesthesia, which puts the patient to sleep and was performed in a hospital setting; however, this is not common and unnecessary for the vast majority of people. Instead of needing to sleep through the procedure, many people need and prefer a level of relaxation.   Sedation dentistry is simply using medication to produce a state of relaxation.  With some forms of sedation, people do fall asleep (hence the term) but not for all.