The Many Benefits of Sedation Dentistry

When people bring up sedation dentistry, they mostly talk about how it helps anxiety. Namely, the sedatives involved make patients calmer and less afraid of treatment. However, did you know this sedation can do more than just ease fears? As it turns out, the process has several other perks for its users. Luckily enough, your Oklahoma City dentist is here to tell you about them. Read on to learn three great benefits of sedation dentistry besides fear reduction.

Remind Me: What’s Sedation Dentistry?

Sedation dentistry is a method dentists use to relax patients for a procedure. It does so by relying on sedatives with calming effects.

This service generally comes in three types: nitrous oxide, oral conscious, and IV sedation. The first involves getting so-called “laughing gas” prior to a procedure. The second requires that you take a drug a few hours before the visit. Lastly, the third is when a dentist injects the sedative into your bloodstream.

Sedation Dentistry’s Benefits

As mentioned above, patients often get dental sedation to feel less afraid during a procedure. Even so, its sedatives also have the following benefits:

Pain Relief

Often enough, patients will avoid or put off treatment they believe will cause tooth or gum pain. In doing so, though, they usually make their dental issues worse.

That said, sedation dentistry can relieve such pain. You see, it uses sedatives that keep the human brain from sensing discomfort. Consequently, patients only feel a sense of numbness during their procedure. For that reason, you wouldn’t need to delay needed dental work.

Temporary Amnesia

Some dental treatments end up taking a while. Left to yourself in such cases, you might feel bored, annoyed, or increasingly afraid of your dentist. You wouldn’t want that to happen, right?

Well, you can prevent that outcome with sedation dentistry. Besides calming you, the sedation process often triggers temporary amnesia. As a result, many patients don’t remember procedures that involve it. Needless to say, the effect helps treatment feel less lengthy and keeps you from developing dental phobias.

Cost-Effective Treatment

Depending on your needs, you may need more than one dental service. However, you might feel hesitant to get them all due to their joint price.

Well, dental sedation can make treatment more cost-effective. In particular, it saves you time and money by allowing several services during one visit. No more booking multiple appointments with extra charges!

Of course, you can and should consider sedation dentistry if you have dental anxiety. Even so, remember that the option would offer benefits like those above!

About the Author

Dr. Jeffrey H. Hermen is a dentist based in Oklahoma City, OK. Since earning his DDS from the Oklahoma University College of Dentistry, he’s trained in orthodontics and cosmetic dentistry. As a result, the man can perform many dental services and is a certified provider of dental sedation. Dr. Hermen currently practices at his self-titled clinic and is reachable on his website or by phone at (405)-621-2100.