Dental Implant Treatment – There’s No Need To Be Nervous
If you’re under the impression that you’re more nervous than anyone about undergoing dental implants in Richmond, then please think again. Believe it or not it’s thought that around 1 in 4 people suffer from a degree of anxiety before visiting the dentist and as many as 1 in 10 people suffer incomprehensible fear, so you’re definitely not alone.
Of course for most of us the trepidation we feel is manageable and for the sake of our dental health, most of us will pluck up the courage and go. However what about those people who simply can’t face the thought of undergoing any kind of treatment, let alone dental implants? Are they to be condemned to a life of poor oral health?
The good news is that many clinics including Sheen Dental right here in Richmond focus on caring for nervous patients. In an ideal world, we’d like to be able to give all nervous patients a simple pill that washes away all their (in some cases debilitating) fears and phobias, but unfortunately there’s no such thing. However what we can do is to make the patient feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible before and during dental implant treatment.
Conscious sedation
In most cases this is achieved using conscious sedation. This is a harmless way of making the patient feel relaxed in such a way that they remain conscious, but feel happy and carefree at the same time. Most people don’t even know that they’ve had treatment, while recovery from any anaesthetic is at worst, an hour or so. What’s more it doesn’t leave any nasty side effects such as sickness or headaches. Sedation can be administered in several ways and these include
- Inhalation – This is the most common form of sedation and consists of a combination of nitrogen and oxygen commonly known as laughing gas. The amount of sedative is carefully controlled and is inhaled via a small nose piece.
- Absorption – As above a carefully controlled amount of sedative is administered. Only this time it’s in liquid form and is administered with an injection into the back of the hand via a catheter.
- Ingestion – A harmless sedative in the form of a pill is taken approximately one hour before the treatment. This is less common but can be used for people who don’t like injections or any apparatus placed over their face or nose.
In addition to conscious sedation techniques our team are experienced in dealing with nervous patients and are more than happy to not begin any treatment until you are ready. Likewise we also believe that communication (or rather, the lack of it) plays a part in dental anxiety. Therefore we make sure that each patient understands fully the processes involved and what they should expect.
If you’d like to talk to us more about how we can help nervous patients undergo dental implants in Richmond or any other form of surgical dental procedure then why not book yourself a free, no obligation consultation with Dr Harmit Kalsi and the team. To make an appointment, either visit our website at www.sheendentalimplants.co.uk or contact us directly on 020 8876 5277. We’re confident that you’ll be glad that you did.