Sedation in dentistry has been around for a while, but it hasn’t really been affordable, universal, and accessible until recently. If you’ve ever thought about oral sedation at the dentist you probably have a picture in your head of the ideal patient: the dental-phobe.
While it’s definitely true that anxious patients benefit greatly from sedation they’re hardly the only group. We see a lot of patients at Shorewood Family Dental Care who opt for sedation for a variety of reasons. You might just find that sedation can work wonders for you even if you aren’t scared at all!
Sedation For Busy People
The drawback to some of the more complicated dental care procedures is that they can take a lot of time to complete. For a lot of people this is far from ideal, especially if they’re busy with children or work. If you find yourself bristling at the idea of having to find a babysitter twice or having to request two sick days we understand.
The biggest barrier to getting complicated dental procedures done in one sitting isn’t technical. It’s mostly due to the fact that the average patient can’t handle that much work in one sitting! With sedation we can eliminate those problems completely, leaving you relaxed and unaware for as long as we need to complete your procedure.
Sedation can allow you to just take one long appointment to complete your necessary work saving you two trips, time, money, and sanity!
Scared Of The Dentist?
We can’t ignore our most common user of sedation: the anxious patient. No matter what has caused your fear of the dentist or of dental care we want to work with you to make your visit to our Shorewood office a pleasant one. We try hard to alleviate anxiety for our patients, but we also know that traditional means don’t work for everyone. That’s why we’re glad to be able to offer several different sedation options.
We’re able to make your treatment more relaxing for even the shortest, easiest visits. Nitrous oxide is always available if you need it – all you have to do is let us know that you’re scared of the dentist and we’ll do our best to help you!
Special Needs Patients
There are a variety of patients who, for whatever reason, have difficulty understanding dental care. For them it’s invasive, uncomfortable, frightening, and confusing. We want to help those kinds of patients too, which is why we’re glad to offer sedation for them as well.
The great benefit to sedation for special needs patients is that it can protect them from harming themselves or others. The last thing any of us want – including the patient – is to have a bad reaction. With sedation we can help assure their appointment goes by without a hitch.
Many of the special needs patients we see have no need for sedation. However, it can help those who are especially vulnerable or need more complicated work done.
Sedation Options We Offer
We’re proud to have several levels of oral sedation at our dentist office available at Shorewood Family Dental Care.
- Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, is a simple, fast-acting, and easily dismissed sedative that will leave you awake but at ease. Your limbs may feel heavy and you may get drowsy, but nitrous is most noted for how comfortable and relaxed it leaves you.
- Oral sedation at the dentist is delivered in the form of a pill, which is taken prior to your appointment. By the time you sit down in the chair you’ll already be feeling drowsy and at ease. You won’t necessarily fall asleep but you will be incredibly relaxed, and as an added benefit you won’t remember a thing! Oral sedation is an amnesic – great for nervous patients! However you’ll need to have someone come along to drive for you.
- IV sedation is the highest level we offer. It’s just like “twilight sedation” at a hospital, which puts you in a state between sleep and awake. You won’t be aware of anything that is happening, and we’ll be able to closely monitor you for effectiveness, safety, and duration. It’s the perfect choice for long procedures and terrified patients. You’ll need to bring a driver with you for IV sedation as well.
Don’t Panic – Make An Appointment!
We’d love to be able to help you benefit from dental sedation, so call our Shorewood dentist office today! You can reach us at 815-725-5991 or you can request an appointment by filling out our online form.
