How You Can Benefit From Sleep Dentistry

If you are one of those people who keeps on putting off having your teeth maintained or getting that filling done because of an intense sense of anxiety about the dentist’s chair, then sleep dentistry may be the solution you’ve been waiting for so that you too can have a clean and healthy set of teeth.

There are various types of sleep dentistry available, all depending on the degree of your nerves.

Here is what you should know about sleep dentistry:

• What is sleep dentistry?

Sleep dentistry is when the dentist administers a sedative to the patient to help them calm down before the dental procedure begins. This is done mainly for patients who fear any kind of dentistry being done on them. Sleep dentistry, in fact, is not an uncommon feature in the general practice of dentistry, and has been around for many years.

• What are the sleep dentistry options?

The only option that puts you to sleep completely is general anaesthesia – however, this could come with other health complications, which is why dentists commonly apply other options, such as:

– Nitrous Oxide: this is the “happy gas” that will make you feel more relaxed and take away your sense of anxiety so that the procedure can continue without you worrying.

– Pill sedation: the dentist may prescribe a drug such as Valium to help you relax before the procedure. The drug will take about 10 minutes to take effect before you feel relaxed enough for the procedure.

– Intravenous sedation: this option is more effective because it goes directly into your blood stream and can put you to sleep, but not into an entire sleep that will render you unconscious.

• Who needs sleep dentistry?

All different kinds of people need sleep dentistry in order to cope with a dental treatment, including:

-People with phobias related to dentists

-Very anxious people

-People who have had bad experiences in the past with dental work

-People with small mouths that become painful when forced open wide

-People who may be resistant to local anaesthetics

• What are the benefits of sleep dentistry?

The greatest benefit of sleep dentistry, is that you don’t need to worry at all, and just leave all your mouth problems in the hands of your very capable dentist. You’ll come out feeling good and you’ll have a beautiful mouth to prove it.

As you can see there are many sleep dentistry options available, depending on your level of anxiety. The one thing you can depend on is that once you are relaxed and aren’t worried about the dentist’s chair, you can finally have a healthy set of teeth. If you leave it for longer, it can lead to larger problems, which may force you to have to undergo an invasive surgery.

If you want to know more about sleep dentistry, contact us today.