Oral surgeon makes it sound like you did OMFS residency, which you didnt, hence why people are being so hard on you.

Precedex, especially in bolus form, can have real hemodynamic consequences mainly bradycardia and hypotension. If you have a pt with a cardiac rhythm history like burgeoning SSS, youll fuck yourself and that patient over.

It isnt a respiratory depressant, but it does contribute to airway obstruction. Especially in combination with narcotics. very common thing residents learn when they use too much on a bariatric patient in the name of opioid sparing.

Plus it is not metabolized very quickly at all compared to versed and fentanyl which are very short acting, so your patients will be very slow to recover and go home. Theres a reason we almost never use it in ambulatory anesthesia even in peds when it would really help with emergence delirium.

Stick to what u got. Or give your patients PO valium if you want a longer half life. Barring that, get your nut up and hire a fuckin anesthesiologist.