Sedation dentistry can be life-changing for patients who are too anxious to see their dentist regularly. You may not even be aware of how much oral health problems are holding you back until you suddenly don’t have to deal with them anymore, and sedation can give nervous patients the ability to deal with them effectively.
However, there are prevalent misunderstandings about sedation dentistry that drive people away from the treatment. To clear the air, here are a few examples of myths about sedatives that you shouldn’t pay much mind to.
Myth 1: Sedation Dentistry Puts You To Sleep
One of the most common mistakes that people make about sedation dentistry is confusing sedation as a whole for anesthesia. While there are instances where general anesthesia is used in dentistry, this is incredibly rare. For the most part, dental sedatives are designed to keep you relaxed but awake for the duration of the procedure so that you’ll be able to respond to the dentist’s instructions.
Myth 2: Sedation Can Only Help Anxious Patients
While it’s true that sedatives can be incredibly helpful for patients with severe dental anxiety, this isn’t the only circumstance where it’s useful.
For example, even patients who don’t ordinarily have a problem with the dentist may struggle to make it through longer procedures. For this reason, if you need several treatments, dentists will typically space it out over several days.
However, sedation can make getting multiple treatments back-to-back considerably more pleasant. This means that you’ll only need to schedule just one appointment, and the treatment as a whole will be considerably faster.
If you think sedation may be useful for you, it may be a good idea to ask your dentist whether they think it could be a good idea.
Myth 3: Sedation Can Only Be Used By Adults
Children in particular tend to have a really hard time sitting still at the dentist’s office and may have an outsized fear of dental care.
Thankfully, children can also benefit from sedation as well. Nitrous oxide sedation in particular can be easily adjusted to provide children with a safe, effective dosage. If you have children who aren’t the best at the dentist’s office, you might ask whether your family dentist offers nitrous oxide sedation or reach out to one that does.
About Our Practice
At Midtown Family Dentistry of Dallas, we believe that everyone deserves the highest level of dental care possible. We make excellent customer service central to our practice so that the process of getting your smile into perfect shape can be as easy as possible. That means office hours made to fit your schedule and no need to sit in our waiting for hours waiting to be seen.
If you have any questions about sedation dentistry, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (469) 529-6016.