What Is Sedation Dentistry In Austin?

By Author: Vikram Kumar
Total Articles: 9383
Comment this article

Most people are petrified of going to a dentist. It’s more of a built-up fear rather than one that has any real basis. No doubt a toothache can be very painful and grinding and scaling procedures that are part of dentistry can be a little painful at times. However, there are numerous people who are not just scared; they are phobic about visiting a dentist. What this also means is that they will not go to a dentist even at times when it might really critical for them to do so. This can prove to be detrimental as some dental conditions can lead to other health complications as well.

This is where sedation dentistry in Austin saves the day. It helps in taking away some of the anxiety that people have while they are visiting a dentist for any dental treatment. Sedation can be used effectively in simple tooth cleaning as well as for many other complex and invasive dental procedures. The severity of the fear will decide exactly how it is used. Sedation dentistry in Austin uses different kinds of medication that helps patients relax when they have to go through dental procedures. It is also known as sleep dentistry though ...
... the latter is not really a very accurate term.

Patients are generally awake except for those who have been heavily sedated. There are different levels of sedation. Minimal sedation is when the patient is awake yet relaxed. Moderate sedation or conscious sedation might lead to slurry speech and the patient might not recollect what happened during a large part of the procedure. Deep sedation as the term suggests is when the person has been sedated deeply. In this state the patient can still be awakened as he/she is on the verge of consciousness. General anesthesia is not used very commonly. However, in this condition, the patient is completely unconscious. You can find out more at austinlaserdentist

This is how the sedation is actioned. The patient is given a combination of oxygen and nitrous oxide to breathe. This gas is commonly known as “laughing gas” and a mask is used for this purpose. The gas helps the patient relax. The dentist is able to control the amount of sedation that the patient receives and the gas also wears out pretty fast. This is probably the only kind of sedation in which the patient is able to drive home post the procedure. In some cases, oral sedation may be used and is generally in pill form. This sedation may either be minimal or moderate and the pill is made of Halcion which belongs to the Valium drug family.

If moderate sedation is desired, a larger dose will be administered by the dentist. The pill makes the patient feel drowsy though he/she will not be asleep. The other form of moderate sedation is given intravenously. The strongest form of sedation is general anesthesia or deep sedation. In this kind of sedation, it is not possible to awaken the patient easily. The patient will also have to be accompanied by someone as he will now be in a position to drive back by himself. The best place to go to, to know more is austinlaserdentist.

Resource box:

Austin Laser Dentist at www.austinlaserdentist.com may use sedation dentistry in Austin when necessary. It is used when patients have a fear of dental procedures.