If you’re one of the many people who suffer from dental anxiety or sensitive gag reflex, you know how it feels when you may need a dental procedure or routine checkup. These two factors keep many people from visiting the dentist.
Fortunately, modern dentistry now has many ways to ease a patient’s fears and help relax them during treatments. There are many people that deal with dental anxiety, a sensitive gag reflex or just fear of the dentist in general, and that’s where sleep dentistry comes in.
What is sleep dentistry?
For people that avoid the dentist due to dental anxiety or a sensitive gag reflex, sleep dentistry may be the perfect solution. Many dental professionals use the term “sleep dentistry” when referring to IV sedation. This terminology can be confusing to some, as it suggests that the patient would be asleep during the dental procedure. In reality, patients actually remain conscious and are able to respond to requests during IV sedation. However, patients sometimes don’t remember much or anything at all. This is due to two reasons:
- IV sedation induces patients into a deep relaxation and a feeling of not feeling bothered about what’s going on.
- The drugs that are used for IV sedation produce either partial or full memory loss from the time it’s administered until it wears off. This will make it seem as if time is passing quickly. Patients won’t be able to recall much or anything at all. This is why it may seem as if you were asleep during the dental procedure.
Benefits of IV Sedation
- IV sedation kicks in right when it’s first administered and the drug dosage can be altered to fit each individual patient.
- A safe level of deep sedation can be reached with IV sedation, as where oral sedation and inhalation sedation can be unpredictable. IV sedation is safe and effective.
- Certain treatments can be performed at a fast pace and with fewer office visits with the help of IV sedation.
- With IV sedation, your gag reflex is greatly diminished. If you are using IV sedation for gag reflex, then your dentist may try inhalation sedation first.
- IV sedation allows patients to be conscious, while also relaxing them. This allows them to cooperate with the dentist instructions and be relaxed at the same time.
- Recovery time is typically shorter with IV sedation. This is mostly because the drug dosage can be tailored.
Now that you’ve gotten a little more familiar with sleep dentistry, maybe you’ll be able to visit your dentist to get that much need dental procedure done. Don’t let your dental anxiety or sensitive gag reflex keep you from visiting the dentist.
If you would like to learn more about IV sedation, contact Dr. Larry Lieberman, DDS at 727-785-8017 to schedule an appointment today. Or visit www.dentist-lieberman.com for additional information regarding sedation dentistry.
Dr. Larry Lieberman proudly accepts patients from Safety Harbor, Palm Harbor, Clearwater, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs and surrounding areas.
