Sedation Dentistry Can Help to Reduce Anxiety During Dental Procedures
The fear of dental procedures can affect even the strongest individual. Dentists have managed to overcome this problem to provide their patient’s treatments with comfort and without anxiety with the help of medications and at times local anesthesia to induce relaxation.
If you are scheduled for a dental procedure and are anxious or panicking simply because you need routine fillings or cleaning you can confidently request the sedation dentist in Peoria to administer sedation of some kind that will help you to relax during the procedure.
You do not have to be fearful or ashamed to request for sedation because dentists are aware of the anxiety among people being fearful about the drilling and prodding in their mouths and have therefore adopted different methods of sedation to induce relaxation among patients.
What Types of Sedation Are Administered by the Dentist?
The type of sedation chosen by the dentist after consultation with the patient will depend on the complexity of the procedure and the duration it will take to be completed. While different methods of sedation are available it cannot be assumed that one size fits all. If you need a minor procedure like teeth cleaning and are anxious about the throbbing noises made by the electric toothbrush when cleaning your teeth with a gritty toothpaste you cannot expect intravenous anesthesia. Therefore you will be administered laughing as or nitrous oxide that will help you to relax during the procedure.
If the procedure you are undergoing is complex and will take time to complete you will be informed beforehand about the complexities involved to prepare you ahead of time. In such cases, you may be offered conscious sedation, intravenous anesthesia, or general anesthesia. All these methods differ in different ways and will, therefore, require you to prepare accordingly.
For procedures like dental cleaning, cavity fillings, and tissue biopsies you may be offered conscious sedation. With this type, you will be almost awake and may even remember part of the procedure. The sedation will be administered in the form of a pill, and intravenous line or a shot in the muscles. You will recover immediately after the procedure to regain control of your physical and mental faculties with conscious sedation. You will also be able to drive yourselves home after the procedure.
Most major surgeries and when requested even for minor surgeries dentists may administer general anesthesia. In this case, you will be unconscious and will have no memory of the procedure. You will receive the anesthesia through an intravenous line in your arm. General anesthesia works faster than conscious sedation because of the medications entering your bloodstream immediately. However, you will require more time to recover and may also need someone with you to drive back home.
Can You Request Sedation for Any Procedure?
As mentioned earlier dentists are fully aware that patients are scared about dental procedures. It is the fear among patients that is preventing them from taking proper care of their teeth even when they are at risk of losing a tooth. Dentists have received the training needed to administer anesthesia of different types and the most commonly used is local anesthesia when a numbing medication is injected directly into the gums. Even when administering local anesthesia dentists are using a topical numbing agent over the gums to ensure the patient does not feel any pain or discomfort as the needle is pushed through the gums. It is used for most procedures on patients because local numbing agents are appropriate. However, patients are free to request for conscious sedation during dental procedures like root canals, crown replacements, and even fillings.
How Does a Patient Administered Conscious Sedation Feel?
The effects of conscious sedation can be different for every person. Drowsiness and relaxation are perhaps the most common features of this variety of sedation. It is common to observe stress, anxiety, and negative emotions disappear after the sedative takes hold of the patient’s body.
Your reflexes will be delayed and you may respond slowly to any physical stimuli or to any conversations. If you have been provided with nitrous oxide you may begin laughing without reason but will recover fast when the procedure is accomplished.
Sedation dentistry of Peoria fully understands the needs of their patients and has arranged for all types of sedation when patients call them to schedule appointments for dental procedures of any kind.