If You’re Anxious About Seeing a Dentist, We Have The Solution
Fear of the dentist is completely understandable. After all, dental clinics had terrible press for decades, mostly in part due to the invasive equipment and intense sensory experience patients would have to suffer whilst in the dentist’s chair.
Thankfully, private dental practices are now a million miles away from this description. Many private dentists are now trained in offering intravenous sedation to help patients relax during a given procedure.
IV (intravenous) ‘sleep dentistry’ sedation at The Smile Studios
The primary solution to ease patients’ nerves prior to dental treatment is very often IV sedation. Also known as ‘sleep dentistry’, IV sedation induces feelings of drowsiness and deep relaxation.
We’re proud to be one of the practices offering ‘sedation Richmond’ as part of our services. This game-changing conscious mode of sedation is fantastic because:
It’s safer than general anaesthesia and doesn’t put you fully under.
You’ll feel completely at ease – sedation takes away negative anticipation and anxiety.
You are unlikely to remember much about the procedure.
Sedation wears off gently and quickly – you’ll start to feel yourself again within 4-5 hours and be fully recovered after 24 hours.
How will I feel under sedation?
To put it simply, you’re likely to feel the most (physically) relaxed you’ve ever felt. The Midazolam sedative we use is a muscle relaxant with amnesic effects. It takes effect rapidly, travelling quickly through the bloodstream, and taking effect within minutes. Once the Midazolam has taken effect on the nervous system and it produces an intense calming effect on the recipient.
Midazolam stands out in the benzodiazepine family as being highly fast-acting. This is particularly beneficial to nervous patients, who don’t have to wait in lengthy anticipation for the sedative to ease their nerves.
How is IV sedation administered?
IV sedation is administered on the back of the hand – a small needle called a cannula is used.
This small needle is much smaller than the needle used to administer anaesthetic, making it more accessible to nervous patients. Once under the effects of sedation, your dentist will administer local anaesthetic to the treatment site, but you won’t feel a thing under IV sedation.
How successful is IV sedation in expelling dental anxiety for good?
Whilst there are some patients who continue to need IV sedation for future procedures, the majority of our patients cease to need it.
One of the main reasons for this shift in mentality is that nervous patients’ fears are often rooted in a bad experience with the dentist in the past. After a successful treatment session or procedure with a responsible, caring and experienced dentist (that’s us here at The Smile Studios!) most patients find that they don’t need the amnesic and relaxing effects of sedation.
What we’re illustrating here is that most of the time, paving over a negative experience with a positive one is all that’s needed to curb feelings of anxiety, and to build confidence. This said, everyone is different, and our clinical team will always take an individualistic approach to helping patients overcome their fear of the dentist.
Is IV sedation just for nervous patients?
No. IV sedation can also be beneficial in the following scenarios:
It can make lengthy dental procedures pass more quickly.
It can reduce a person’s gag reflex. If you have a strong gag reflex, this may result in a longer procedure (as your dentist will need to work more slowly). IV sedation relaxes the gag reflex, giving your dentist the freedom to work seamlessly.
What else can my dentist do to help me with dental anxiety?
Our dentists have undergone training on how to pacify the nerves of anxious patients.
Even without the use of sedation, we can help you with breathing techniques proven to help calm nerves.
We will go through everything involved with your chosen treatment, which is something some dental practices fail to explain to patients. Omitting even the smallest detail from a treatment plan can give way to serious anxiety and erode trust between dentists and patients.
This is never something you will experience at The Smile Studios, and we will take our time with each patient who comes through our doors.
Before any given treatment, we will establish clear hand signals with you, so that should you need to stop, this is crystal clear to your dentist. As a private dental practice, we are fortunate to have the freedom to offer appointments long enough for our dentists to make thorough investigations into your oral health, using gentle (and never rushed techniques) to do so.
Sedation Richmond – experienced sedation dentists at The Smile Studios
Choose The Smile Studios Richmond for compassionate care and a methodical approach to delivering sedation-based treatments.
Our dentists have the years of clinical experience to ensure a smooth treatment experience with sedation, no matter how complex or lengthy the procedure.
