If you need a cosmetic makeover or restorative care for your smile, it may be worth considering sedation dentistry.
Sedation dentistry uses medications to help patients feel more relaxed during their appointment. The levels of sedation dentistry can range from mild sedation, in which you will remember your appointment, to deep sedation, in which you may have a limited awareness of your procedure.
There are many benefits to using sedation dentistry when you need multiple procedures to restore your smile.
Feel Better About Your Smile Restoration
Research shows that dental sedation can help reduce anxiety prior to the patient’s procedure, meaning patients can feel more relaxed and less anxious about their smile makeover or restorative procedures [1].
Since there are various levels of sedation dentistry, your dentist will work with you to personalize your treatment for your specific needs. This way, you can achieve the level of sedation you’d like for your appointment to properly reduce your anxiety and maximize the effects for a smooth and comfortable procedure.
The use of sedation dentistry is especially helpful for patients that require multiple procedures or those that have significant dental anxiety about restoring their smile.
Get Multiple Procedures Done in One Appointment
Some patients have a limited tolerance for how much dental work they can handle during a single appointment. However, with sedation dentistry, you may be able to extend your tolerance for treatments, allowing your dentist to complete multiple steps in one appointment [2].
Patients who receive sedation dentistry report feeling relaxed and pain-free during their appointment, so their dentist or prosthodontist can complete procedures that require numerous steps.
Therefore, patients can potentially shorten their treatment time and not have to wait weeks between appointments, meaning they can complete their restorative or cosmetic work sooner than they would have been able to otherwise.
Potentially Experience Less Postoperative Pain
Although your dentist will ensure you are pain-free during your procedures, it’s possible that sedation dentistry results in less postoperative pain. One of the reasons for this is that a patient’s level of worry or anxiety can influence the discomfort they feel after their procedure.
Research shows that when moderate sedation is used, patients recall lower levels of pain and anxiety after their procedure [3]. So dental sedation may have a twofold effect of reducing anxiety before the procedure and decreasing the level of pain experienced after the procedure.
Is Sedation Dentistry an Option for You?
Most patients will qualify for sedation dentistry, so talk with your dentist about whether sedation dentistry is an option for you to feel more comfortable and potentially shorten your treatment time for a complete smile restoration!
Sources:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005095/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5564087/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24528789/
