We offer a host of treatments to strengthen your jaw, replace missing teeth, and manage gum disease, and we want to ensure each and every one is comfortable for our patients. Which is why we offer three different forms of dental sedation. In today’s blog, your Encinitas/San Diego, CA, periodontist talks about providing greater comfort with sedation dentistry.
When Smiles Need a Comforting Treatment
When do we recommend sedation for our patients? We could prescribe this option when people are undergoing more extensive treatments, such as dental implant placement, jawbone grafting, sinus lifts, or pinhole gum grafts. This could also help people with special needs or high anxiety levels undergo treatment with comfort, so they enjoy a positive experience in the office.
Choosing Which Sedation is Right for You
Now that you know when we prescribe calming treatments, how do we choose from our three options? Which one is right for you? To decide, we will look at multiple factors, such as your age, weight, medical history, and any medications that you are currently taking. Of course, we also look at your anxiety levels and the presence of special needs and other complications. With this information, we can plan treatment and choose the right sedation!
A Look at Our Options
In many cases, we can help with nitrous oxide, the mildest option. Also known as laughing gas, this is administered through a mask over the ones. You breathe in the gas and enter a deep state of calm and relaxation, but stay conscious and able to respond to the dentist, even if you don’t remember the procedure. We can adjust the effects during treatment and once the procedure ends, so do the effects, so you can drive yourself home or even go back to work or school.
If you need a deep calm, we could prescribe oral conscious, in which you take a pill or liquid prior to the procedure and enter a deeper state of relaxation, staying conscious but having no memory of the procedure. The effects take time to wear off, so you need someone on hand to bring you home. With IV calming, we offer calming intravenously, this being the deepest version available. You enter a deep sleep-like state, with no memory of the procedure. Again, you will need someone to bring you home. With oral conscious and IV, you may need to fast before the procedure.
If you have any questions, then contact our team today to learn more!
Schedule Your Visit For Comfortable Care
We want to provide a treatment option that ensures a comfortable experience for our patients. To learn more about sedation dentistry or to schedule a consultation with our team, then call Dr. Ann Kania in Encinitas, CA, today at 760-642-0711.