Conscious sedation and dental care – a practical guide

Natalie is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Kings College Hospitals and Clinical Director for Dentaid the Dental Charity. She provides sedation in secondary care to patients with additional needs and has experience treating patients under conscious sedation across general dental practice, community dental services and hospital dental services. She is deputy chair of the Managed Clinical Network for Special Care Dentistry across London. Natalie is co-Vice Chair of the Central Committee for Hospital Dental Services and is a member of the board, at the British Dental Association. 

Clare has more than 20 years of experience as a dentist, working in both primary and secondary care. She became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and gained her diploma in Conscious Sedation from Guys before joining the Oral Surgery specialist list in 2008.

Having worked in the dento‐legal field for the last eight years, she has continued her interest in the law and became a member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, going on to complete the diploma in forensic medical science. Clare is committed to pursuing proper and fair outcomes for her dental colleagues in all manner of dental complaints, claims, regulatory and disciplinary processes and advice cases.

Laleh Sharifian qualified in Dentistry from Guys Hospital in 1999 having developed an early interest in sedation and was awarded the Malleson prize for research in dental anxiety. Laleh attained her post graduate diploma in conscious sedation in 2002. Since then, she has been using this skill whilst predominantly as a GDP in private practice in London and subsequently started a peripatetic IV sedation service in 2019 following a demand in this niche. Now exclusively a visiting sedationist, Laleh sedates in over 30 practices in the South East of England.

Laleh has been elected on to the board of trustees of SAAD (Society for the Advancement of Anaesthetics in Dentistry) and is also part of the teaching faculty. In addition, she runs and teaches Immediate life support training courses (ILS) for sedation practices and also undertakes expert witness work in relation to sedation. Laleh is an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a sedation mentor for dentists and nurses.

Laleh thoroughly enjoys making the patients dental journey as smooth as possible. As a peoples person with exceptional communication skills and a dental background, she understands the journey from both the clinician and the patients perspective and is able to provide a more bespoke service.