No one wants to feel discomfort during dental treatment, and we ensure your mouth is properly numbed before performing any procedure. You should not feel any pain or discomfort. However, we know this isn’t enough to reassure some people, especially those who feel more anxious about seeing a dentist. These feelings can be enough to put some people off seeing a dentist regularly or even delaying dental care until an infected tooth becomes too painful.
If it’s been a while since you have seen a dentist in Newcastle because of dental anxiety or fear, sedation dentistry could help. West Bowmanville Family Dental can provide several kinds of sedation dentistry in Clarington. When you need dental sedation, we will customize your treatment to help ensure you feel comfortable and relaxed during your visit.
Determining the Type of Sedation Needed
There are three types of sedation available:
- Nitrous oxide.
- Oral conscious sedation.
- IV conscious sedation.
Nitrous Oxide
You may have experienced Nitrous oxide in the past as it is better known as laughing gas. You inhale the gas through a small mask fitted over your nose. The gas takes effect quickly, so you soon feel calmer.
After treatment, we remove the mask, and you will soon feel back to normal. It doesn’t take long for your body to eliminate the gas, and you can even drive yourself home afterwards.
Oral Conscious Sedation
We can prescribe an oral sedative that you will take before your appointment to ensure that you feel more relaxed when you sit in the dental chair. The effect can be enhanced by using laughing gas so you feel even more comfortable.
With oral conscious sedation, you will need someone to take you home afterwards.
IV Conscious Sedation
IV conscious sedation is given intravenously through a vein in your hand or arm and is the deepest level of sedation we provide. You will feel so relaxed and comfortable that you may fall asleep. However, we can easily awaken you if we need to ask anything or check that you are okay during your treatment.
Intravenous sedation is a great option if you need lengthier treatment or something more complex like dental implants in Courtice. The recovery afterwards is longer. We will need to keep you with us for a short while to ensure you are okay before sending you home with a trusted friend or family member. It will take at least 24 hours for the anesthetic to be eliminated from your system, so you must take it easy during this time and avoid driving or using machinery and making any important decisions.
Keeping You Safe During Sedation Dentistry
We will monitor you continuously during your treatment to help keep you as safe as possible. All sedatives carry some level of risk, but we take extensive steps to minimize these as much as possible.
Your safety is always our top priority, so we will want to review your medical health before we recommend sedation dentistry. We must know about any pre-existing conditions or medications in case these could interfere with your sedation or mean we need to try a different approach.
Compassionate Dentistry in a Calm and Relaxing Atmosphere
Our practice is carefully designed to provide a calm and relaxing environment, and everyone who works here is compassionate, friendly and approachable. However, sedation dentistry can be a useful tool in helping people conquer dental fears and enjoy positive dental visits.
If you want to learn more about sedation dentistry in Bowmanville, contact us and book your appointment.
