Professional dental care is essential to your overall health, but it’s often more involved than simply brushing and flossing. Sedation dentistry options like IV sedation and laughing gas can help you get the treatments and procedures you need, such as root canals, fillings, and teeth extractions, with minimal discomfort and anxiety.
At Bright Now! Dental, we know a visit to the dentist can not only be physically uncomfortable, but it can also produce a certain level of anxiety for many people. That’s why we offer a variety of sedation and anesthetic options to help reduce and manage pain, stress, and anxiety for a more positive experience that encourages better dental health.*
While local anesthesia numbs a treatment area and general anesthesia renders you unconscious, dental sedation simply helps to relax you. By reducing your stress, relaxing your muscles, and minimizing feelings of pain, sedation helps your dentist work faster and more efficiently.
Most dental procedures will require a local or topical anesthetic, but dental sedation is more of a case-by-case basis. For some, it may depend on your pain threshold. For example, during the application of caps or veneers, the very top layer of enamel is removed. Some patients experience a feeling similar to intense brushing, but others experience some pain and sensitivity from the proximity to the tooth’s nerve endings. This is an instance where dental sedation may be used to reduce or eliminate pain in patients with higher sensitivity.
Dental sedation is common in pediatric dentistry, where children may have a harder time sitting still during a procedure like a filling or crown or who have strong anxiety or fear about the dentist.
Similarly, dental sedation is also used for adult patients with dental anxiety.
For many people, visiting the dentist can cause anxiety, fear, or extreme discomfort. While these feelings are quite common, they can keep the people experiencing them from getting the dental care they need.
If you suffer from dental anxiety, experience panic attacks, or are afraid of the dentist’s office, sedation dentistry from Bright Now! Dental can help you feel more comfortable and confident during your visits so you’re more likely to come back for routine care.
Sedation is usually the first step in trying to reduce dental anxiety because there are multiple sedation levels and the effects wear off more quickly than anesthesia. For example, laughing gas is a light sedative that leaves no lingering effects after the procedure, so the dentist might try it first to ease dental anxiety. If that doesn’t help, there are stronger options like oral sedatives or anesthesia. Often, patients with dental anxiety can start to gradually wean off of sedation as they become more accustomed to visiting the dentist.
Bright Now! Dental offers several different types of sedation to help our patients feel relaxed and comfortable during a procedure. With any form of sedation, we will let you know what we plan to use and what you can expect before, during, and after the sedation. For any sedation method aside from inhaled minimal sedation (laughing gas) and a local or topical anesthetic, you should plan on having someone take you home after the procedure. Depending on your procedure and anxiety level, your dentist may use a combination of several types of sedation or anesthesia.
The cost of dental sedation will largely depend on the type, how much was needed (which varies with age and weight), and the type of procedure it is being used for. Many forms of dental sedation are covered by dental insurance providers, but it’s always a good idea to check with both your insurance and our office, since prices can vary based on the situation and your unique needs. In addition to accepting most major dental insurances and CareCredit, Bright Now! Dental also offers a variety of financing and payment options to help you afford sedation services, including our own OneSmile Dental Plan, which provides members with free x-rays and exams and discounts on many dental services.
At Bright Now! Dental, your oral health is our number one priority, and we believe everyone deserves quality, compassionate care, no matter how they feel about the dentist or their dental health condition. If you do suffer from fear, discomfort, or anxiety while at the dentist, and especially if it’s been keeping you from getting the care you need, our dental sedation options can help make your visits to our office more comfortable and less stressful.
Call Bright Now! Dental today at 1-844-400-7645 or schedule an appointment online and find out more about sedation dentistry.
*Not all offices offer sedation dentistry. Please check with the office before scheduling an appointment.