At Surrey Place Dental Group, we know that a dental office can be an anxiety-inducing or stressful place for many people. This is why we offer oral sedation to patients who wish to have a more relaxed experience.
For people who avoid dentists for reasons of fear, sedation dentistry may take away some of their anxiety. Sedation can be used for everything from invasive procedures like extractions and root canals to a routine dental cleaning.
We use medication to help patients relax during dental procedures. It’s sometimes referred to as “sleep dentistry,” although that’s not entirely accurate. Patients are fully awake but will not feel as much anxiety from the environment around them.
Sedation is most appropriate for people with a real fear or anxiety that is preventing them from going to the dentist. Common reasons why we may discuss sedation for you are because you may:
- have a low pain threshold
- can’t sit still in the dentist’s chair
- have very sensitive teeth
- have a bad gag reflex
- need a large amount of dental work completed
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
You do not feel pain with sedation dentistry. The more convincing answer: Dentists use a combination of sedation and anesthetic to keep you relaxed and pain-free throughout your procedure. Many patients leave the appointment with little to no memory of their treatment and feel good afterward.
Essentially, oral sedation will suppress the gag reflex, suppress pain responses, reduce anxiety, and more. However, these dental sedation methods usually last anywhere from two to eight hours after the procedure. The type of drug you take will determine how long it will take the sedation to wear off.
