Dexmedetomidine: A potential agent for use in procedural dental sedation

Despite the availability of wide variety of pharmacological agents for dental procedural sedation there has always been a continuous search for newer sedative agents. Dexmedetomidine is a newer sedative agent currently approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for provision of short-term sedation (<24 h) in adult patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. It is a selective α2 adrenergic receptor agonist. The reports on off-label use of this drug in a variety of settings for invasive and noninvasive procedural sedation have provided encouraging results. Scanty of reports have been published using this drug as a potential sedative agent for dental procedures. The present paper reviews the pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic effects, potential drug combinations along with a literature review of its use for procedural dental sedation.