Wisdom teeth- local vs. general anesthesia? what is the difference?

A lot: Local anesthesia numbs the area of surgery, but does not calm or sedate you. General anesthesia makes you completely unconscious, but does not make you impervious to pain, just unable to react, and requires that you be intubated. Usually wisdom teeth are removed using sedation and local, rather than general, achieving the best combo for pain and anxiety without need for intubation.

Anesthesia for teeth: Local anesthesia involves injection of local anesthetic drugs in your mouth to make the jaw numb so the wisdom teeth can be painlessly removed. General anesthesia, on the other hand, involves the injection of general anesthetic drugs or sedative through an I.V. It's very common in an oral surgeon's office for you to have both I.V. Anesthesia and local anesthesia. This is the most comfortable way.

Patient satisfaction: A straight local anesthetic is perfectly capable of controlling the pain from this surgery. However, the addition of sedatives (twilight anesthesia) will make the entire procedure more pleasant from the patient's point of view.