Who Benefits from Sedation Dentistry
Patients most often request sedation dentistry because of dental anxiety. Sedation dentistry helps anxious patients who:
- Avoid preventive care
- Postpone necessary dental treatments
- Have unpleasant dental experiences
- Postpone necessary dental treatments
- Have unpleasant dental experiences
- Avoid preventive care
We see many of these patients in our office. Postponing preventive care and necessary dental treatments often means you will benefit from the expertise of a prosthodontist. Our experience with anxious patients helps us gauge your level of anxiety and match you with an ideal sedation approach that is just enough to ensure a comfortable dental experience with a minimum of side effects.
We also help many people with little or no dental anxiety who might benefit from sedation because of:
- A strong gag reflex
- Difficulty sitting through long procedures
- Difficulty getting numb
- Muscle tension and soreness during or after dental procedures
- Muscle tension and soreness during or after dental procedures
- Difficulty sitting through long procedures
- Difficulty getting numb
- A strong gag reflex
These may be effects of lower-level dental anxiety. Being anxious can make you focus on the dentist working in your mouth, which escalates your gag reflex. It can also make you fidgety, and anxiety can make your body process anesthetic faster, so it’s harder for you to get numb and stay numb. Plus, you might tense up for a dental appointment. Even if you’re not aware of it at the time, you can feel it afterward in your sore muscles.
Whether you have dental anxiety or other concerns, sedation dentistry is effective at helping you enjoy something you never thought possible: a pleasant experience at the dentist.
Sedation Dentistry Options
One thing we’ve learned from working with many anxious patients is that not everyone has the same type or level of anxiety, and not everyone benefits from the same type of sedation. That’s why we offer numerous safe and effective sedation options. We’ll talk to you about your anxiety and previous dental experiences to help you get the option that will ensure the best possible dental experience for you.
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide is one of the most established types of dental sedations. It’s often called nitrous or laughing gas, and it’s commonly used because it is safe, effective, and offers other benefits.
For nitrous sedation, you’ll wear a nasal mask that gives you a carefully calibrated mix of oxygen and nitrous. You’ll be aware of your surroundings and capable of responding to questions, but you’ll feel relaxed and unconcerned.
Nitrous oxide works best for mild to moderate anxiety. Originally, nitrous was used as a dental and surgical anesthesia, and it’s especially good for patients who have difficulty getting numb. Nitrous oxide has the benefit of taking effect quickly. We can begin your dental procedure within minutes of starting the nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide also wears off quickly. Just wait around our office for a few minutes after stopping the nitrous, and you’ll be able to drive yourself home.
Oral Conscious Sedation
This approach uses a pill to calm moderate to severe anxiety. We’ll prescribe an oral sedative, something like Valium.
In many ways, this is a great sedation approach. It’s inexpensive and simple. By adjusting the medication, we can find one that’s just enough for your dental anxiety.
It does have some disadvantages, though. First, we have to wait for the medication to take effect, which can be a while, and isn’t always predictable. We also can’t easily extend the length of sedation, so we’ll usually err on the side of making it a little longer than we think we need. You won’t be able to drive yourself home, and it’s best to have a responsible adult stay with you until the effects wear off.
IV Sedation
IV sedation delivers sedatives intravenously. The medications are similar to the ones we use in oral conscious sedation, but the IV delivery offers some benefits. It lets medications take effect quickly, we can adjust them as necessary, and we can extend them if a procedure runs long.
IV sedation is ideal for people with severe dental anxiety. We also recommend it for complex procedures that might run longer than expected.
As with oral conscious sedation, you will need a responsible adult to drive you home and stay with you until you’ve recovered.
Seeking Comfortable Dental Care in Torrance, CA?
When you need restorative dentistry or you’re looking for cosmetic dentistry, your best choice is a prosthodontist. If you have dental anxiety, South Bay Prosthodontics is your ideal partner: we have helped many people get great dental care despite their anxiety.
Please call (310) 378-9261 or use our online form today to request an appointment at our Torrance, CA, dental office.
