Our team offers an array of periodontal treatment and even dental implants to address serious concerns, restoring your smile to optimal oral health and function, avoiding issues like tooth loss. But we want to make sure your treatment is a comfortable experience. In today’s blog, your Encinitas/San Diego, CA, periodontist talks about our approach to dental sedation.
When You Need Sedation
Dental sedation is typically prescribed for more involved treatments, such as dental implant placement, jawbone grafting, or to address serious cases of periodontal disease with advanced technology. But we also recommend this for people with dental anxiety, as we understand their fears are very real and we never want to minimize them. Instead, we want to offer medications that make undergoing care a comfortable experience for those with dental anxiety or special needs, so they can obtain the treatments needed to smile with confidence and enjoy better oral health and bite function. Whether you’re undergoing gum grafting or implant placement, we want the experience to be a positive one.
Choosing the Right One For You
We take multiple factors into account when we select an option for our patients. For example, we will look at your age, weight, medical history, and any medications you’re currently taking. We also take your anxiety levels or special needs into account as well. From there, we can offer a more relaxing and comfortable experience with the right amount of dental sedation.
Three Treatment Options
The most common option for patients of all ages is nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. Administered through a mask over the nose, this involves inhaling a special gas to enter a calm and euphoric state, with little to no memory of the procedure. We can adjust the levels during care and they wear off once the treatment ends, so people can often drive themselves home or even return to work or school.
Oral conscious sedation means you’re still conscious as you are with nitrous oxide, but this is a deeper state of calm so you likely will have no memory of the experience. We administer this through a pill or liquid prior to treatment. The effects tend to linger a bit, so you need to have someone available to take you home afterward.
IV sedation is the strongest option, and offers the deepest state of calm. A trained anesthesiologist will monitor you the entire time, and again the effects take time to wear off, so have someone on hand to take you home. If you have any questions, give us a call today!
Talk to Dr. Kania About Sedation Dentistry
Our team wants to help you enjoy good oral health and strong gums again. To learn more about keeping treatment comfortable, or to schedule your appointment, give us a call at our office in Encinitas, CA today at 760-642-0711.