Both adult dentists and pediatric dentists use sedation dentistry to help patients that suffer from severe dental anxiety or cannot hold still during a dental procedure. This is an excellent way to ensure that patients are able to get the treatment they need, without fear of discomfort. Fortunately, most dental work does not cause any pain at all, so by simply relaxing a patient their experience is much improved. Millions of adults suffer from some form of dental fear or anxiety. This is unfortunate because not visiting the dentist can actually make the problem worst as oral health problems become painful when left untreated, not when they are caught early and dealt with. Basically, the fear of the dentist preventing someone from getting a checkup, makes the fear come true. Fortunately, sedation dentistry exists as a solution for helping those with dental anxiety get the help and treatments that they need. This can be good for patients that: Cannot hold still, such as young children People with previous bad dental experiences Those suffering from severe anxiety People afraid of needles Those needing major dental work or oral surgery Sedation dentistry may be different than you think.
For the most part, it simply relaxes you. The most common forms do not put you to sleep. Instead, you can remain awake but in a state of complete relaxation so that you do not worry about what is happening or have any fear associated with it. You won’t feel any pain either so the overall experience should remain pleasant. For those that are undergoing oral surgery or absolutely cannot be awake, general anesthesia may be used. This completely puts a patient to sleep so that they don’t feel anything and are unaware of their surroundings. All of these options will help the patient to be comfortable during their dental procedure. In order to understand which type of sedation is right for you, speak with our dentist. We will go over the options for sedation and the procedure itself to determine the best course of treatment. There is no one size fits all solution, making it important to work with a dentist that will listen to your concerns and work with you to create a plan for success. Each time you have a pleasant dental experience, your anxiety should slowly start to reduce until eventually you may not need sedation any longer. For children, the key is to have them visit the dentist early and often. They can start receiving dental care as early as one-year-old. At first, the appointments will center around helping them to feel comfortable with the office, staff, and sitting in the exam chair. Each visit they will start to build a sense of trust with the dentist and office staff and eventually performing teeth cleanings and dental work won’t be a big deal. They will be used to it and may even get excited about visiting the dentist. The goal for every parent should be to help their children establish a good medical care routine early, and this includes visiting the dentist.