Do you suffer from anxiety or intense fear at the thought of a visit to the dentist? Dental phobia or anxiety over dental visits affects many people. To make your visit with us as calm and fear-free as possible, we are pleased to offer you a variety of sedation options. Please note that with all sedation treatments you will be unable to drive, so you will need to arrange transportation home from our office. Also, because the sedative may affect you for 24 hours after treatment you should arrange to have someone take care of you at home.
For light, short-term sedation we can prescribe an oral anti-anxiety medication or sedative that you would take prior to your dental visit. Oral sedation reduces your anxiety while leaving you aware of your surroundings.
If you need a deeper and more predictable and manageable level of sedation for procedures such as wisdom teeth extraction, IV sedation is another option. IV sedation allows us to closely monitor the level of sedation you receive, allowing us to increase the sedative if necessary.
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, provides a light to moderate level of sedation which wears off quickly. It is administered with a mask that is placed over your nose and mouth.
