What if you could go to sleep and wake up to find all your dental problems have been solved? That is the idea behind sedation dentistry, also known as sleep dentistry. For many people, dental phobia is a major problem, something that keeps them out of the dentist’s chair for years at a time. After periods of neglect, your teeth can need a whole host of repairs. Everything from whitening to cavities and deep cleanings can become necessary when you aren’t seeing a dentist at regular intervals.
Sleep dentistry has been the solution for many people suffering fears about dental procedures. In the case of many adults, these feelings can go all the way back to childhood, when a forbidding dentist employed archaic methods to repair decaying teeth. In the past decade, there have been innumerable changes to the industry, allowing dentists to care for patients with the utmost in sensitivity and attention. If you haven’t experienced the pain-free procedures of modern dentistry, you should find out about today’s options.
In the event that the pain is not only psychological, sleep dentistry can provide the solution. Many patients find the process of sitting for an extended period of time extremely uncomfortable. These patients can experience neck and back pain on top of the bad feelings they associate with a dental visit. Sedation is recommended for patients experiencing these problems because they often force themselves into awkward positions during procedures.
In other cases, patients who do not receive the desired effects of local anesthesia will opt for sleep dentistry to avoid the pain of a procedure without numbing the gums. Procedures without any type of pain relief are inadvisable, as jaw and mouth pain could last for days. Sedation is an excellent choice for patients who are unable to receive the effects of anesthesia.
The medication used in sleep dentistry has been serving pain-free dentists for many years. You can feel safe and comfortable before you sit down in the dentist’s chair and wake up to find the entire procedure completed. For patients who have avoided dental appointments for years due to this phobia, it may require a series of visits to get the shine back in your smile. However, sedation can allow you to combine several procedures into one appointment, as you will feel as if you simply took a nap. If you have avoided the dentist and dreaded even regular checkups, find out if sedation is right for you and recover the sparkle in your smile.