At Morris Park Dental of the Bronx, we offer sedation and relaxation dentistry for those who experience anxiety over a visit to the dentist. Many people have a phobia or extreme anxiety about dental procedures and often avoid the dentist, sometimes for many years. Let our experienced, trained staff take some of your nervousness and fear away with sedation and relaxation dentistry.
What is Sedation Dentistry?
Sedation dentistry includes a variety of medications and anti-anxiety techniques to help calm you before or during a dental procedure. Many options are available for patients before undergoing a dental procedure.
Before administering sedation, our dental staff will take a thorough medical history. Some conditions such as cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory diseases should all be addressed prior to your procedure, and may need your physician’s clearance before sedation is administered.
Is Sedation Dentistry Right for You?
If you suffer from any of the following, talk to one of our experienced Dentists to determine if sedation dentistry is right for your next procedure.
- Extreme anxiety prior to or during a dental office visit.
- Dislike of the drill, smell of the office, or the sight of a needle.
- Difficulty with local anesthetics.
- A strong gag reflex.
- A compromised medical condition.
- Need extensive dental work or a procedure that will take a long time.
Types of Sedation:
Only one type of sedation renders a patient completely unconscious, and that is general anesthesia. Most forms of dental sedation will help you relax without technically rendering you unconscious.
Laughing Gas: Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, is safe and effective for relaxing you during a dental procedure. It will not make you unconscious. Your dentist will control how much you receive. It wears off quickly after you stop breathing it, so you might even be able to drive yourself home with your dentist’s permission after the procedure.
Oral Sedatives: This involves taking a pill about an hour or so before your procedure. This is one of the most common techniques in sedation dentistry. Even though you will be awake, you will be extremely relaxed, and most patients remember very little about the procedure. By the next day, the effects of the pill will have worn off. For oral sedation you will need to arrange for someone to take you home.
IV Sedation: In this type of sedation dentistry, the medicine is administered directly into a vein to provide a deeper sedation. (most IV sedation patients have no memory of their experience while sedated.) Also, it may take a while to recover, so you will need to arrange for someone to take you home after IV sedation.
Your dentist can help you choose the type of sedation that is right for you. Give our office a call to schedule a complementary consultation. Morris Park Dental also provides Emergency Dental Care, Cosmetic Dentistry, and Pediatric Dentistry.