How To Overcome Dental Anxiety With Sedation Dentistry

Getting a dental treatment can come off as a scary event for some people. Most times, it is usually first-time dental patients that are affected by dental phobia. Because they haven’t undergone a particular dental procedure, they might get scared or anxious about it. They tend to assume that they could experience great pain from the dental procedure. However, dentists have a way of getting rid of dental phobia and putting dental patients in a relaxed state. This remedy is called sedation dentistry.

Sedation dentistry or sleep dentistry is a type of procedure that is performed on dental patients to make them feel comfortable and relaxed during and after dental procedures. During dental treatment, the stability and composure of the patient are important. The success of the dental procedure also depends on the composure of the patient. If a patient is anxious before getting a dental treatment, this could cause a delay and the dental problem might deteriorate if treatment is performed on time. This is why sedative dentistry is of great help to reduce the patient’s fear. Instead of making use of local anesthetics, these days, dentists use sedatives to ease the pain and discomfort that might occur during dental treatment. Some people suffer from harsh side effects after using local anesthetics and so the dentist would use sedatives to prevent that from happening.

Reasons Why You Might Need Sedative Dentistry

Dental procedures like root canal treatments, tooth extraction, dental implants, and other dental procedures might make the patient scared because of the steps that have to be taken by the dentist while performing such dental procedures. Also, what they heard from other patients who have had bad experiences can cause fear and anxiety.

The first and major reason is dental phobia (fear or trauma). Also, you might need sedative dentistry if you have fear based on past dental experiences especially dental procedures that were not successful. Furthermore, patients who have a small dental structure that could get sore during dental treatments. Also, if you have very sensitive dental tissues, you should ask your dentist for sedative dentistry. Some patients are also allergic to local anesthetic and so might need sedatives to keep help them get relaxed before or during a dental procedure.

Types Of Sedative Dentistry

There different sedative dentistry or sleep dentistry options that patients can pick from. Also, the dentist can help in making such decisions since they know better about the dental procedure and might know about the patient’s medical history which includes their allergies.

Sedatives can be administered in different ways and have different types. They are:

Nitrous Oxide Or Laughing Gas Sedation: This is an inhaled minimal sedation. The patient is given a mask that contains nitrous oxide and oxygen which he or she inhales to help with relaxation. It is called minimal sedation because the effects don’t last for too long. After the procedure, the patient can go on with their everyday activities and even drive back home without needing assistance from another person. A laughing gas dentist can help you with this type of procedure.

Oral Sedatives: This type of sedation is a common type of sedative dentistry. It might be minimal or moderate which means that the drugs might not wear off easily like that of laughing gas sedation. it can either be given to the patient in bits or more depending on the patient’s dental problem and the dental procedure involved. The dentist might give the patient drugs like diazepam or halcion. These drugs can be taken an hour before the dental procedure.

Intravenous Sedatives Or General Anesthesia: Intravenous sedatives are the use of injection to transmit the sedatives into the patient’s body through the veins. It is the fastest type of sedative. This type of sedative makes you fall deeply asleep and you are seldom aware of the things going on around you. Even if the dental procedure causes pain, the patient won’t feel it. As stated earlier, general anesthesia might not be the best type of sedative dentistry for some dental patients due to possible side effects that it has compared to the other types of sedatives.

Advantages Of Sedation Dentistry

• Sedation dentistry helps you stay calm and comfortable during or before a dental procedure.
• It makes the dental procedure smooth and fast. Since the patient isn’t showing any signs of anxiety or fear, the dentist won’t be distracted. This will help the dentist work effectively.
• It saves the patient from delaying his or her dental treatment thereby preventing a worse dental case later

Sedative dentistry gives the patient a level of confidence and trust towards the dentist.