Some people are terrified of the most basic dental service. They may have had a horrible experience with a dentist as a small child or they may have psychological problems not connected with any particular dental experience. Before they can visit any Dentist Southington CT office, they have to have some form of medicine to relax them. This is the first step of sedation dentistry. The dentist prescribes a relaxation drug to be taken one hour prior to the dental procedure. There are two things to consider with this approach. The patient must have someone drive them to and from the office. The drug may not work as effectively as anticipated. It’s effectiveness is determined by body weight, prior drug use history and genetics.
A Sedation Dentist Southington CT practice can also use inhalation sedation to augment the oral sedation. This technique uses nitrous oxide which is also known as laughing gas or sweet air. It relaxes the patient, but they are still conscious and know what’s going on. Some patients have a hard time dealing with the sound and smell of a dentists office and this might not be sufficient to help them cope. The dentist might decide that these patients need a deeper sedation.
IV sedation is another option. A strong sedative is given to the patient through a vein in their arm. The person sleeps through the procedure and then leaves the office fully awake. However they must have someone drive them home. While under IV sedation the patient is able to breathe for themselves. They can also swallow and there is no need for an an anesthesiologist to be present.
For most patients one of the options described above is adequate to get them through almost any dental procedure. However there are some patients who are so phobic that they must be completely unconscious to receive their dental treatments. This makes it safer for both them and the dentist. This level of sedation is so deep people lose their ability to breathe and swallow on their own. Therefore an anesthesiologist must oversee their care. This form of sedation dentistry is performed in a hospital. It is very expensive because of that.
