Deep Sedation Dentistry

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Deep Sedation

While there are many types of dental sedation available on the market, deep sedation is our most powerful tool to make sure that you get the dental care that you need without a negative memory. Deep sedation gives patients medication through an IV that allows them to be brought to the point just before unconsciousness. This means that you will not have any idea of what is happening around you, although you will still be awake. This allows you to get moderate to major dental work completed to help keep your mouth and teeth in great condition.

Understanding Sedation

There are a few different types of sedation. The first generally use nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas. This method of sedation works well for patients that have minor phobias or anxiety associated with their appointment. The next level of sedation utilizes a prescribed medication that is taken orally before the appointment. This allows patients to walk through our doors without any of the fear normally associated with the dentist’s office. This approach can work well for mild to moderate concerns about an appointment, and can also help with many dental procedures.

The next approaches involve some level of deeper sedation. Deep sedation techniques utilize an IV or intravenous method of delivery. This allows the medication to be placed directly into the bloodstream so that effects are noticed almost immediately. Additionally, this method allows for highly accurate care from our medical team to make sure that you maintain the proper level of sedation throughout your procedure. However, deep sedation does take longer to wear off and be out of your system. This means that while you can drive yourself to your appointment (unlike oral sedation techniques), that you cannot drive back home.

Deep sedation is also not considered general anesthesia. Patients are not completely unconscious when they use deep sedation. However, patients usually will not remember anything about the procedure, even though they were actually conscious throughout the event. This also allows patients to wake up much more quickly than when general anesthesia is used. This helps both recovery time, and the ability for a patient to return home more quickly.

When to Consider Deep Sedation

At Andrew J. Hollomon, DDS and Associates, we offer sedation dentistry for our patients for a variety of reasons. We generally want to understand your concerns with coming in for your appointment so that we can match the appropriate medication and level of sedation with your needs. While we understand that most people are not excited to come in for a dental procedure, you may want to consider sedation dentistry if you have a significant fear, or if your fear keeps you from coming in or scheduling your appointment at all.

Deep sedation is the highest level of sedation that we offer in our office setting. We typically want to work with patients at the lowest level of sedation that they need, but there are times when deep sedation is the only option that makes sense.

If you think that you may benefit from sedation dentistry, do not hesitate to call our office today. Our friendly staff can talk to you to get an understanding of your concerns and explain the options we offer.

Deep sedation is typically reserved for patients who have a deep-rooted fear of the dentist or procedure, a large amount of dental work or a specifically invasive procedure, patients who have unsuccessfully tried other methods of sedation, and many other reasons.

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If you think that you would benefit from deep sedation or any of our other services, do not hesitate to call today. At Andrew J. Hollomon, DDS and Associates, we will do whatever we can to make sure you have the healthy smile you deserve.