Sedation Dentistry 101: Procedure, Types, and Benefits

If you aren’t aware of what the sedation dentist nearby offers to make dental treatments accessible and relaxing, let us explain how sedation dentistry helps you receive any treatment you need after ensuring you are calm and relaxed.

What is Sedation Dentistry?

Sedation dentistry is a procedure of establishing a relaxed, calm, and accessible state with the help of sedatives. As a result, the dentistry practice near you does not subject you to unnecessary anxiety and stress but relaxes you entirely when you arrive for your appointment, whether minor or significant, and go through it without fearing the dentist or their office.

Sedation Dentistry Procedure Explained

In the sedation dentistry procedure, you are given sedative drugs like tranquilizers, antidepressants, antianxiety medications, and nitrous oxide administered differently via a nasal mask, pills, or liquids that you can have before your appointment to relax and ensure you overcome your dental anxiety before you reach the dentist’s office.

Sedation dentistry allows you to receive any dental treatment without fear because the pills and liquids help deliver a relaxing experience; you have them an hour before your procedure to arrive at the dentist’s office fully prepared.

You might not receive liquids as an adult, but the dentist might prescribe pills to relax and help manage your anxiety. If you have requested sedation dentistry for routine exams and cleanings, you will likely receive nitrous oxide to increase the pain threshold for a comfortable procedure requiring merely about an hour to complete and causing no pain.

Nitrous oxide delivered to a mask to inhale becomes effective in under five minutes and dissipates soon after your dentist stops the gas flow to help you recover immediately. Pills provided to relax you are best taken one hour before your procedure when moving towards the dental practice. The medications make you dizzy and incapable of driving vehicles.

Therefore you must have a trusted friend or family member accompany you to and from the dental office and remain with you for another four hours until you recover completely from the medications.

What Happens at the Dentist’s Office during Your Appointment?

When you are at the practice of our dentist in bridge city, TX 77611, the staff escorts you to the dentist’s chair to prepare you for your procedure. First, they start your process by injecting local anesthesia in the mouth to block pain impulses from the affected tooth and gums. However, you will likely not feel the injection sensation because you receive it after you are entirely relaxed.

Types of Sedation Dentistry

Sedation dentistry varies according to the procedure you are receiving. Sedation dentistry aims to provide a conducive and relaxing experience when receiving treatments to help your dental and overall health besides your smile. The types of dental sedation you will likely receive include:

Nitrous Oxide

Laughing gas is the alternative name for nitrous oxide administered to adults and children that are often uncooperative during dental bridges. Nitrous oxide is an inhalable gas working quickly and efficiently to relax you by increasing your pain threshold. You can complete minor dental procedures requesting nitrous oxide and drive yourself back home after the treatment.

Oral Conscious Sedation

You receive prescriptions for sedative drugs to take before you arrive for your appointment that you must take as prescribed by the bridge city dentist. The level of oral conscious sedation you receive varies according to your dental procedure and is often termed mild, moderate, and profound.

The dentist determines which oral sedation is suitable for your treatment. However, if you think you have severe anxiety, you can request stronger medications from the dentist.

Intravenous Sedation

Earlier, IV sedation delivered through a vein in the arm or hand was popular to sedate patients. However, with oral conscious sedation allowing patients to achieve relaxation without injections, the fear of needles is relegated to the background. Therefore oral sedation is currently the most popular in the US and Canada to help quell dental concerns among patients.

Oral sedation doesn’t eliminate the need for local anesthesia in the mouth for pain management. However, you receive the injection after you are entirely relaxed from the sedatives and will likely not feel the sensation.

Benefits of Sedation Dentistry

• While sedation dentistry doesn’t make you sleep but leaves you in a semiconscious state, the medications delivered to make you feel your appointment lasted only for a few minutes, even after spending hours in the dentist’s chair.
• In addition, the sedatives permit the dentist to work in your mouth without disturbances to complete more work in one appointment instead of scheduling multiple.
• You also benefit from sedation dentistry because it helps you overcome your dental anxiety and puts you on a path where you care for your dental health and smile.

Visit Your Nearby Dentist

If you are fearful of dental visits and looking for sedation dentistry in Bridge City, TX. We suggest you schedule an appointment with Edgerly Dentistry providing dental treatments after giving you dental sedation as described earlier. We are confident you will not regret your decision after you receive the treatments required without fear.