Can Sedation Dentistry Help with My Dental Anxiety?

Anxiety or worry about seeing a dentist is quite common. However, for some, it prevents them from getting the oral care they need to stay healthy. A mild toothache may be ignored due to a fear of the dentist. But leaving the issue untreated only allows it to worsen. To break the cycle of anxiety and poor dental hygiene, it’s vital to learn how to overcome your dental anxiety. One way to work towards this is by exploring your options when it comes to sedation dentistry. At Supreme Dentistry, we do our utmost to make your experience comfortable and pleasant. Part of doing so means offering sedation dentistry as an option for our adult and child clients.

Common Kinds of Dental Anxiety

Anxiety is excessive worry. It can have real, physical effects on the body regardless of whether or not individuals ‘know’ they should worry. People with anxiety typically experience the following:

Sweating
A sudden increase in heartbeat or palpitations
Low blood pressure
Fainting
Crying, shaking, or other visible signs of panic
Uncharacteristic withdrawal

Several things can cause dental anxiety. For instance, an individual may have had a traumatic dental experience as a child, generalized anxiety disorder, or other phobias such as agoraphobia (fear of being in situations where you feel you cannot escape) or claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces). All of this may contribute to or cause an individual’s dental anxiety. When the anxiety becomes intense enough, it can lead an individual to avoid seeing a dentist altogether contributing to poor oral health and raising their risk of serious dental issues. There are several ways you can deal with your dental anxiety as an adult. It’s important to find a dentist you are comfortable with, you trust, and makes you feel at ease. This is why Supreme Dentistry commits itself to create a comfortable, welcoming environment as our dentist and hygienist treat every client with respect and compassion. If you are concerned about your children developing dental anxiety, a good practice to get into is taking them to a dentist’s office to become familiar with it. Children are more at ease when they recognize a place and the faces there. Avoiding the dentist only heightens their anxiety when they have to go. Finally, the most common way dentists address dental anxiety is by using sedation dentistry for procedures.

Sedation Dentistry Practice

There are several methods of sedation dentists at Supreme Dentistry in Houston, TX has to choose from. However, the most common kinds include:

Nitrous Oxide: Often called ‘laughing gas,’ perhaps misleadingly, nitrous oxide calms, and relaxes clients. Their pain tolerance increases, their tension and anxiety lower, and clients routinely lose their sense of time experiencing their dental procedure to have taken a shorter amount of time than it did. Nitrous oxide is safe, fast-acting, and its effects wear off in a short amount of time.
Conscious Oral Sedation: Rather than inhaling a gas like nitrous oxide, this method usually consists of taking one or two pills before a procedure. Depending on the sedative your dentist uses, this kind of sedation typically puts clients into a relaxed, semi-conscious state. Make sure to let your dentist know any medications you have taken so to avoid unwanted interactions.
IV Sedation: Perhaps the rarest of sedation used for dental anxiety. IV or intravenous sedation is when the sedative drug is delivered via an individual’s vein in a steady, controlled injection. If a client has issues with needles, this is not a route to go. However, it is fast-acting. Thus, it is usually only used for more advanced or complicated procedures, so a client is entirely unconscious.

Talk to your dentist about all these options and work out a plan that works best for you or your family.

Supreme Dentistry Services

Overcoming your dental anxiety takes time. Fortunately, here at Supreme Dentistry, we offer the support you need to get past your dental anxiety and make sure your oral health is top-notch. Through our sedation dentistry practice in Houston, Texas, you or your child can get the oral care necessary while patiently overcoming your dental anxiety. We provide a range of services you can take advantage of such as: