Conquering Dental Anxieties with Sedation

If you have misgivings or anxieties about visiting the dentist and undergoing treatment, then you have the option to undergo sleep or sedation dentistry. However, this is only for patients who have dental phobia or dental anxiety. For example, you might be afraid of the sight of needles or just the mere thought of having a tooth extraction that you would not dare visit the dentist.



There are three types of dental sedation: inhalation sedation, oral sedation and intravenous (IV) sedation. Inhalation sedation is referred to as laughing gas which consists of nitrous oxide which you breathe through an apparatus that delivers compressed gases. Oral sedation makes use of anti-anxiety pills or the "happy pills" for relieving anxieties hours before the dental appointment. These pills can also be taken the night before the appointment.



The IV sedation should not be confused with sleep dentistry. The IV is a drug administered into the blood stream. This sounds like being sedated, but actually you still remain conscious during the procedure. However, you will not remember what happened in the operation, because the IV causes partial or full memory loss—or rather amnesia—until the drug wears off.



IV gets its name from the word "intravenous" which literally means, "into a vein" as the drug enters the vein. It is administered through a needle which is injected in the arm or back of the hand. However, if you are scared of needles, then dentists Las Vegas NV can apply a numbing cream on your skin.



There are different drugs dentists Las Vegas NV use for IV sedation: anti-anxiety sedatives, painkillers and sleep-inducing drugs. Benzodiazepine is a kind of drug mostly used as an anti-anxiety sedative. It relaxes you, makes you sleepy and makes you forget what happens during the operation. Opioids are painkillers given, not during the procedure because you will be given anesthesia, but after the operation to help you cope with the pain. Barbiturates are the sleep-inducing drugs that make you remain conscious during the procedure.



Although dentists Las Vegas NV may use sedation to treat their patients, it does not assure that everyone will overcome their dental fears. When you are given IV sedation, forgetting what happened during your treatment will not make you realize that there is nothing to be afraid of.