Sedation Dentistry in Santa Cruz

Understanding Sedation Dentistry

Going to the dentist makes many people nervous. A single painful moment as a child or simply the sound of the drill can cause stress, but sedation dentistry helps to put patients at easy. With sedation, you can be relaxed during your procedure. If you’re curious about sedation dentistry, check out the following four facts.

There Are Different Levels of Sedation

There are three common methods of sedation: inhalation, oral and IV conscious. Inhalation sedation uses nitrous oxide to keep you calm. During the procedure, you’ll wear a gas mask over your nose, which allows you to inhale a combination of nitrous oxide and oxygen. This form of sedation is considered minimal. Oral sedation requires you to take a pill about an hour before your appointment. Depending on the dosage, this type of sedation can be minimal or moderate. The last form is IV Conscious sedation and it is considered a moderate level of sedation. With IV conscious sedation, medication is given intravenously.

You May Need a Ride Home

The benefit of nitrous oxide is that your body doesn’t metabolize it. As soon as the gas is turned off and your system is flushed with oxygen, the nitrous oxide is out of your system. This means that you can drive yourself to and from the appointment. If you choose oral sedation, you may be drowsy on your way to and from the dentist, so you’ll need a ride. IV conscious sedation will also make you drowsy, so you’ll need a ride home.

Sedation Makes You Relaxed

Sedation isn’t designed to make you fall asleep or to be completely “out of it.” Sedation is simply designed to make you relaxed during your treatment. You will still be aware of what is happening, and you’ll still be able to comply with instructions from the dentist. However, the sedation reduces or eliminates the anxiety you feel during the procedure. Depending on your level of sedation, however, you may actually fall asleep during the procedure, but you can be easily woken by the dentist if necessary.

You May Forget Your Appointment

Although you will be conscious during the procedure (unless you fall asleep) and aware of what is happening, a side effect of sedation is amnesia. So you probably won’t be able to remember every moment of your treatment. In fact, you may forget most of it. This is another reason sedation dentistry is great. No one wants to remember every detail of a moment that made them stressed and anxious.

If you get nervous about going to the dentist, sedation can make you forget the visit, so you don’t keep thinking about it. Without sedation, you may recall the stress and discomfort you felt during the visit, which can exacerbate your anxiety for future visits.

Sedation dentistry is revolutionizing dentistry because it allows people who are usually too nervous and stressed to visit the dentist to seek dental treatment. You can get the treatments you need to have a beautiful smile without feeling anxious. For more information about sedation dentistry, contact Landmark Dental Group today.