Although dentistry today can do some amazing things to provide a beautiful smile and a healthy mouth, dental fear and anxiety can prevent you from enjoying these benefits. You are not alone if you delay seeing the dentist because an unpleasant experience in the past stays in your memory. We want to change that by providing you with pleasant experiences and excellent dental care. The starting point for this may be sedation dentistry.
Learn more about what is sedation dentistry, and book an appointment with Trident General Dentistry today!
What is Sedation Dentistry?
Although you may have heard sedation dentistry described as “sleep dentistry,” this is inaccurate in most cases. Some dental procedures take place under general anesthesia, which puts the patient to sleep; however, this is not common. Instead of needing to sleep through the procedure, many people need and prefer deep relaxation.
A variety of medications can produce this relaxed state. Each of these allows you to remain awake but in one of the various levels of relaxation or sedation. The different levels of sedation in addition to the general anesthesia mentioned above include:
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Minimal Sedation. You experience only a minimal lowering of consciousness during the dental procedure. You are still able to respond normally to verbal commands in this heightened relaxed state. Breathing and heart function are not unaffected with minimal sedation. There is a wide margin of safety with the medications used for this level of sedation.
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Moderate Sedation. Medications used for moderate sedation result in a deeper state of relaxation that allows you to remain awake but in a groggy state of consciousness. Moderate sedation methods may require titration or dose adjustment of the medication until reaching the desired state of sedation. You can respond to verbal commands and might not remember the procedure once it is over.
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Deep Sedation. These medications depress consciousness and result in more profound sedation. This makes arousal and response to verbal commands more difficult. The sedation is so deep that you may need assistance with maintaining an open airway. There is no recollection of the procedure, and you need a friend or family member to go with you to and from the appointment.
What Types of Dental Sedation are Available?
You almost always receive some local dental anesthetic along with the various sedation medications. This numbs the tooth but doesn’t provide any relaxation. To accomplish relaxation for your dental visit, you may receive one of these types of dental sedation:
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Laughing Gas. This is quite common and involves you breathing nitrous oxide gas through a mask placed over your nose.
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Oral Medication. Several kinds of pills can produce minimal or moderate sedation, such as Halcion and Valium. You may fall lightly asleep during the appointment.
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IV Sedation. You receive the sedation medication in a vein continuously during the procedure. These medications take effect more quickly than pills and usually produce a deeper level of sedation.
Who Needs Sedation Dentistry?
Sedation dentistry can remove the barrier of fear that keeps many people from going to the dentist for proper oral care. In addition to fear and anxiety, dental sedation can help if you have one of these:
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Severe gag reflex.
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Extremely sensitive teeth.
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Difficulty getting numb with dental anesthetics.
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Inability to sit still for long in the dental chair.
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The need for a significant amount of complex dental treatment.
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Problem forgetting a bad dental experience in the past.
What Are the Benefits of Sedation Dentistry?
Sedation dentistry has allowed many people to receive the dental treatment needed to restore their teeth to health and have the smile they want. At Trident General Dentistry we want to help you overcome the fear you have because of past dental experiences. An important first step in this process is replacing your anxiety with relaxation that enables us to perform any necessary dental treatment that you’ve been avoiding.
Sedation dentistry allows us to provide optimal dental care that includes:
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Stress-free appointments
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Fewer appointments
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No gagging
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Easier dental injections
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No bad memories from the appointment
Is Sedation Dentistry Right for You?
If you experience worry, fear, anxiety, and keep putting off dental treatment, you may need to consider sedation dentistry. Delaying dental treatment for any reason usually results in more time and money spent for dental treatments in the future. There is a level of sedation that you can be comfortable with, allowing you to relax for your treatment.
Schedule an Appointment
To learn more about sedation dentistry and discuss if it is right for you, call us today to schedule an appointment with Trident General Dentistry.