Introduction. Dental treatment remains a constant concern of children as well as adult patients. Adequate choice of sedation enables dentists to safely carry out medical procedures. Aim. To review current literature concerning anesthetic guidelines for sedation in a dental office. Material and methods. Articles from 3 databases were analyzed: PubMed/Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Library, for current guidelines on sedation in dentistry. Results. The most current guidelines show that sedation can be applied to any patient in the event in which anxiety or pain prevents practitioners from safely performing medical procedures. In order for the patient to be qualified for treatment under sedation, he must undergo thorough health assessment and physical examination as well as evolution of the possibility of performing the procedure using minimal, moderate or deep sedation. The most common form of sedation applied in dentistry is oral or inhalation minimal sedation, which does not require the presence of an anesthesiologist during the procedure. Patients suffering from severe odontophobia can be successfully sedated with the use of intravenous drug infusions. However, such procedure requires assistance of a trained Anesthesia Care team specialized in life support. Conclusions. Current guidelines enable treating patients with various health conditions and with fear of dental treatment, using varying degrees of sedation. Thanks to trained medical personnel, the application of specific, procedures and an appropriately equipped dental office, sedation of adults as well as children is safe.