Sedation Dentistry Explained and How It’s Used To Combat Dental Fear
Whether you’re undergoing surgery for dental implants in Richmond, or whether you’re visiting your local dentist for a simple filling, anxiety is surprisingly common. In fact, in the UK, it’s thought that as many as 1 in 2 people suffer with some form of acute dental anxiety and 1 in 5 suffer with dental fear. For many in this second group, it’s often hard for them to even walk through the door, even if they’re in need of urgent dental care. While not everyone feels anxiety quite as badly as this, those that do decide to opt for larger procedures such as dental implants are likely to feel incredibly tense and nervous. Clearly this doesn’t make for a good patient. The good news is that most modern-day dental clinics use conscious sedation as a way of making a patient feel relaxed and calm so that they can have treatment done in a stress-free and painless manner. Let’s take a closer look.
What is sedation dentistry?
In essence sedation dentistry is a cross between a local and a general anaesthetic whereby the patient remains completely awake and is able to respond to the needs and requests of the dentist, but will feel no pain at all. Conscious sedation puts the patient in a care-free, relaxed state and therefore any anxieties felt before they walked into the clinic are no longer present. Most patients state that they can’t remember anything about the procedure at all and before they know it, the surgery/treatment is over. Perhaps the best fact about sedation dentistry is that unlike a local or general anaesthetic there are no side-effects and you won’t feel ill afterwards. Finally, recovery times from the sedative can be as little as 15 minutes, so it’s ideal for those who need to get on with their lives.
How is it delivered?
When it comes to fitting dental implants in Richmond, here at Sheen Dental we use two methods of conscious sedation to suit the needs of our patients, namely:
Intravenous sedation – Delivery of a controlled amount of sedative, administered through an IV catheter in the back of the hand.
Inhalation sedation – The sedative comes in the form of nitrous oxide (more commonly known as laughing gas) and is inhaled through a small nose piece. After the procedure is complete the effects wear off almost immediately.
There is another form of oral sedation which is not a practice that’s commonly used in the UK but works on exactly the same principle. This time a pill is taken 1-2 hours before surgery. Similarly to other forms of conscious sedation, the effects of the pill put the patient in a relaxed and stress-free state. In this instance recovery from the sedative takes a little while longer and patients are asked not to drive afterwards.
If you’re considering undergoing surgery for a dental implant in Richmond, but suffer from acute fear or anxiety then talk to us about our sedation processes. Contact Sheen Dental on 020 8876 5277 or visit our website at www.sheendentalimplants.co.uk to find out more.