I’m trying to get some needed dental work done. I’ve been avoiding the dentist for a few years now after a bad experience and have a lot of work needed. When talking to a friend about my previous experience, she suggested I try a sedation dentist. I’ve called around to a few in my area, but it seems there are different levels of sedation and the dentists all offer different amounts. One only offers nitrous oxide. Another does that and oral conscious sedation. How do you know which kind I need to pick the right dentist?
Abigail
Dear Abigail,
I’m sorry for the bad experience you had. It is fantastic that you are taking steps to get back to the dentist. You’ll find that you feel better overall when your oral health is back in shape.
The different levels of sedation available have to do with the amount of anxiety a patient deals with. I’ll go over each of them and help you determine which one is better for your particular situation. Then you can choose your sedation dentist.
Nitrous Oxide
This is the mildest form of dental sedation. It’s generally best for people who get a bit anxious in the dental chair and have a bit of trouble getting numb as a result. Your dentist will place a nose piece on you and turn on the nitrous oxide gas. This is sometimes called laughing gas. However, it won’t make you laugh. It makes you feel relaxed and a bit floaty. Some people fall asleep, especially children, others just feel relaxed and watch TV or listen to music during their procedure.
Once your procedure is completed. they will switch the gas to oxygen and you’ll be back to normal in no time. Then you can go on with your day as you please. You are even able to return to your responsibilities throughout the day.
Oral Conscious Sedation
With this level of sedation, you will be pretty woozy. It is for people with a much deeper level of anxiety. To administer it, your dentist will provide you a pill you take the morning of your appointment. Sometimes they give you an additional one when you arrive.
Most patients sleep through these appointments. This is so strong, you will not be able to drive yourself to or from your appointment. The dentist will make certain you have a driver before allowing you to leave. In addition, they will want you to have someone stay with you at home until you are lucid again. You’ll be quite woozy and not too steady on your feet.
One great benefit of this is your dentist can get a lot more work done at each appointment. You mentioned you haven’t been to the dentist in a while and therefore need a lot of work. If that is the case, this is the sedation I would recommend for you. It would allow you to get caught up on your dental work much more quickly.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington Dentist Dr. Fred Arnold.
