Who remembers this cute and hilarious video about a boy who just had his tooth removed? The video is famously known as “David After Dentist”, totaling to about 136 million views. 7 year old David had to have a tooth removed due to Hyperdontia or an extra tooth. Because of this he was put under general anesthesia. The video was taken by his dad in the parking lot of the dental office. Here’s how general anesthesia works:
First general anesthesia is dependent on the type of surgery you will have, overall health, and your preferences. In general, these includes procedures that take a long time, result in significant blood loss, expose you to a cold environment, or affect your breathing. As you can see, this type of anesthesia isn’t limited to dentistry. When you get general anesthesia, you are completely unconscious and immobilized. You also do not remember or sense anything once the drug kicks in.
Here are the 4 stages of general anesthesia explained by How Stuff Works:
During the first stage, induction, the patient is given medication and may start to feel its effects but hasn't yet fallen unconscious.
Next, patients go through a stage of excitement. They may twitch and have irregular breathing patterns or heart rates. Patients in this stage don't remember any of this happening because they're unconscious. This stage is very short and progresses rapidly to stage three.
During stage three, the muscles relax, breathing becomes regular and the patient is considered fully anesthetized.
Stage four anesthesia isn't a part of the regular process. This is when a patient has received an overdose of drugs, which can result in heart or breathing stoppage, brain damage or death if swift action isn't taken.
Now if that all sounded alarming to you, don’t worry. Overall, general anesthesia is very safe. It has been in operation since 1842 and during the process several things are continuously monitored while the drug is in effect. These things include oxygen level in blood, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, carbon dioxide exhalation levels, temperature, concentration of the anesthetic, and brain activity. An anesthesiologist, is also present when you’re under general anesthesia. So, the next time you’re under anesthesia you’ll understand the whole process better.
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