Efforts to reduce the amount of pain people experience when injured, sick, or being operated on go back nearly as far as civilization itself. Over several millennia, ways to keep people pain-free employed many different methods, including herbal mixtures, ethanol, and even being knocked out.
The use of gases to help people sleep during operations didn’t start until the 18th century, and in the centuries since, general and local anesthetics have become more and more sophisticated. Sedation dentistry has benefited from using different forms of anesthesia, and today it’s used to help manage pain and anxiety with many treatments.
Dr. Kyle Kern and his experienced staff help the residents of Newberg, Oregon, with many dental conditions using a combination of procedures and sedation dentistry to help make those processes easier.
While sedation is essential in any procedure where pain is likely or when relieving pain, sedation dentistry specifically refers to helping to alleviate problems that people with dental anxiety and other forms of dental phobias have. Many people are hesitant to go to the dentist, and when it comes to surgery or procedures done in the mouth, the thought of the pain involved often makes things worse.
In many cases, these fears can be traced to previous experiences at the dentist when dealing with a painful problem, having seen such an event happening, or having heard about it from other people. People who deal with these issues can experience symptoms like a racing heartbeat, tense muscles, sweating, trembling, nausea, and problems sleeping.
To ease the anxieties, phobias, and related issues, several forms of sedation can be used:
Using a mask or nosepiece, you breathe in the nitrous gases and feel relaxed within minutes. Once the procedure is finished, you’ll have the gases flushed out with oxygen and be able to drive home.
A form of conscious sedation that can use a variety of sedatives, and liquid sedatives can be used for children dealing with phobias and anxiety.
IV sedation helps with severe cases of anxiety or when procedures are expected to last for long periods of time. This puts the anesthetic directly into your bloodstream for immediate results, and you’ll remember nothing after the treatment.
In dentistry, several treatments can use sedation dentistry, even if dental anxiety or phobia isn’t involved:
When treating problems with infected teeth that require a root canal, local anesthetics are used to numb the targeted tooth, but many people are still anxious about the procedure, and medications can help you relax and make this process easier.
Removing teeth can be done with either local or general anesthesia, depending on the reason the tooth is being removed, how difficult it’s likely to be, and the comfort the patient needs.
Because of the pain and pressure involved, the process of drilling in the metal post for osseointegration, as well as exposing the area of the gums to start the process, or doing bone grafts, is often done under anesthesia.
The use of local or general anaesthesia will depend on whether or not you’re having a laser gingivectomy or one done with a scalpel. Some form of anesthetic can be used in both, though local is more common.
Sedation dentistry allows people who wouldn’t normally even see the dentist to get the oral healthcare they need. If you’re struggling with dental problems, but anxiety or phobias get in the way, make an appointment with Dr. Kern and his team today to get taken care of with comfort and discretion.
