Many people experience fear or anxiety when visiting the dentist. Whether they have general anxiety or fear from past trauma, this can make going to the dentist difficult for many people. If you don’t like visiting the dentist or you’ve been avoiding the dentist, sedation dentistry may be the right choice for you. If you aren’t familiar with sedation dentistry, check out these ways it can help you.

It Can Relieve Anxiety and Stress

Some people’s dental-related anxiety is so bad that they purposely avoid going to the dentist. Not only does this mean they don’t get the cleaning and exams they need, but some patients still won’t go even when they are in physical pain from a cavity or infection. This can lead to major decay or event tooth loss.

Sedation dentistry, however, can help ease that anxiety and stress. Most forms of sedation dentistry are conscious sedation. The sedative eases your mind, making you less aware of what is happening and keeping you calm and carefree during treatment.

Depending on the type of sedation, you may continue to experience the sedative effects long after treatment. In this case, you’ll need a ride, and you should go home and rest after treatment.

It Allows for Longer Visits

Sedation dentistry isn’t just used to help with dental-related anxiety. It is also often useful if you need extensive treatment. For example, if you decide to get porcelain veneers, the dentist may want to place them all at once so your smile can transform instantly. However, this makes for a long treatment, which many patients can’t handle easily even without stress or anxiety.

The sedative, however, allows for these longer visits because they help keep you calm so you don’t fidget or get uncomfortable after you’ve been in the chair for two hours or more. As an added benefit for you, the sedative often creates a dream-like experience, so time seems to move much faster than normal so you won’t even know how long you’ve been at the dentist.

Even if the dentist doesn’t expect the treatment to take long, they may still suggest sedatives if the procedure is invasive, such as placing a dental implant or getting a root canal treatment. Even in patients without anxiety, these types of treatments can cause stress, which can make treatment harder for you and your dentist.

It Leaves You With Little Memory of Treatment

You already know that sedatives often create a surreal experience that makes time seem to move faster. However, the sedatives also will often leave you with little to no memory of the treatment.

This is a useful perk for many reasons. First, you don’t always want to remember your dental experience because even though you’ll be numb, some sensations can feel unpleasant, to some people.

Another reason why patients don’t want to remember their treatment is because of their anxiety. If you do have anxiety about visiting the dentist, not being able to recall your visits can help. Instead of having a perfect memory of being afraid in the dentist chair, you’ll remember just feeling calm, which may help reduce some of your dental-related anxiety.

Sedation dentistry turns going to the dentist into a relaxing trip. Treatment will seem quicker than normal, and you won’t remember much of the treatment, which may encourage you to visit the dentist more often. For more information about sedation dentistry, contact us at Pelham Links Family and Cosmetic Dentistry today.