The Madison, Wis.-based hospital UnityPoint Health-Meriter will resume providing sedation dentistry for special needs patients next month, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Here's what you need to know:
1. In sedation dentistry, a dentist performs teeth cleanings and dental exams in an operating room while patients undergo general anesthesia. This technique is useful for patients with developmental disabilities, who might move or react during a dental exam.
2. This service was previously offered at a separate Meriter clinic, which closed last summer. During the past year, patients in need of sedation dentistry were encouraged to visit the Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.
3. The sedation dentistry procedure will be offered as part of a partnership between three Madison-based hospitals — Meriter, St. Mary's Hospital and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics— which will share the cost.
4. This care is focused on Medicaid patients who live in Wisconsin's Dane, Rock, Iowa, Sauk and Columbia counties.
5. A separate dental clinic focused on special needs patients is opening next week at the Milwaukee-based St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. However, this clinic will only offer partial sedation.