Benefits of IV Conscious Sedation

Lots of people don’t feel entirely comfortable when receiving dental treatment, but some have more deeply seated fears and which can even prevent them from receiving the dental care they need or desire. When you are nervous or anxious or perhaps know you need a significant amount of dental work to restore dental health, the best way forward can be IV conscious sedation or sleep dentistry. IV conscious sedation can also be extremely helpful for other people. You might wish to consider this solution if you have a very strong gag reflex that makes it extremely uncomfortable to receive dental treatment. IV conscious sedation can be very useful for helping people with special needs to relax and feel comfortable in the dental chair.

How Will I Feel with Conscious Sedation?

With this solution, there’s no need to feel anxious in the dental chair as instead, you can feel so deeply relaxed you may even fall asleep. This is the reason it’s sometimes called sleep dentistry or maybe twilight dentistry. Even though you might fall asleep, we can still awaken you very easily as sometimes we might need to ask you a question or will need some other response from you during treatment. For example, we could need you to open your mouth a bit wider! Perhaps best of all, you will most likely have little or no memory of the actual procedure. It may seem as if mere moments have passed when in fact you’ve just had quite a lengthy appointment.

The sedative is administered directly into your veins for the duration of treatment. Once treatment is complete, the sedative is immediately reversed, although you will need to spend a short while with us afterward, to ensure you are fully recovered before we send you home with a trusted family member or friend.

Specific benefits of IV conscious sedation include:

A More Comfortable Experience

One reason for choosing IV conscious sedation is to simply have a more comfortable experience in the dental chair that is free from discomfort and pain. The medication used takes effect very quickly, so you will feel deeply relaxed in no time at all. You can choose this option regardless of whether you need straightforward dental fillings or much more complicated oral surgery.

Relieving Anxiety

For most people, this is the major aim of sedation dentistry, and IV conscious sedation is particularly effective in relieving anxiety. It’s a treatment that helps even the most nervous patients to comfortably receive dental care, removing one of the main reasons why people avoid going to the prosthodontist. Although it’s common to feel a little anxiety before any procedure, some patients are so entirely overwhelmed with fear that they cannot receive essential dental care until the pain caused by infected or failing teeth is too much to bear.

How Amnesia Can be a Good Thing

Quite often, dental fears stem from previous bad experiences, perhaps during childhood. Unfortunately, these types of fears can gradually increase with every visit until going to the prosthodontist is no longer feasible. This is particularly true if subsequent visits involve any discomfort or pain. With IV conscious sedation, dental phobias are not increased because there is usually no memory of the actual procedure. Because patients have very little, if any memory of their treatment and instead only see the benefits, it can reduce fear and anxiety for future visits to the prosthodontist.

Reducing the Gag Reflex

Your gag reflexes a protective reflex that is designed to help keep your airway open, which is a good thing! However, when you are receiving dental treatment, it can be a hindrance and could feel extremely uncomfortable. With IV conscious sedation, the gag reflex is no longer an issue, so it’s possible for the prosthodontist to work more quickly and more efficiently while ensuring you feel entirely comfortable.

Completing More Work in a Single Appointment

Because you feel so relaxed with sleep dentistry, it’s possible for our prosthodontist, Dr. Michael Brooks, to complete more work during a single appointment. This is especially good if you require more complicated treatments such as dental implants, or if you need longer procedures to help resolve untreated dental issues. Complex treatments that would normally require several different phases can frequently be completed in one single appointment, all while you are so deeply relaxed you don’t even realize what is happening.

Saving You Time and Money

Sedation dentistry will increase the overall cost of treatment, but good oral health is so important and especially as it helps to protect your overall health. If you have dental and medical insurance, you may well find the cost of IV conscious sedation is covered. It is worth considering even if the cost isn’t covered because it can help to save you money by ensuring you receive the necessary care when you need it, rather than waiting for dental problems to worsen and to require more complex and costly care potentially. By completing work more efficiently, we can restore your dental health more quickly, and of course, it is easier to schedule fewer appointments.

Is Sedation Dentistry Safe?

Here at Pacific Northwest Prosthodontics, we make every effort to keep our patients safe at all times, and your safety is always our main priority. Any IV sedation is only provided by licensed medical and dental anesthesia specialists, and we follow extremely strict protocols to keep you safe. Our prosthodontists assess every patient very carefully before proceeding with this type of treatment. We need to consider your current and past medical history, and we must review all prescription and non-prescription drugs used, and we will need to know all about any existing or possible allergies. You will be continually monitored during your treatment to make sure you are okay.

If your dental fears and anxieties have prevented you from enjoying good dental health, and if you frequently find you delay necessary dental checkups and treatments, IV conscious sedation could be the solution you are seeking. Our entire dental team is extremely sympathetic towards people who feel anxious about the thought of dental care, and we are always ready to discuss your concerns. We can work with you to find a good solution, so contact us today and learn how we can help you.