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Millions of Americans suffer from some level of dental anxiety. For some people, it’s as minor as just feeling anxious while in the dental chair, but for others, the nerves can be so bad that they avoid the dentist for years. This is, of course, bad for dental health as it means dental professionals can’t find and treat problems early, and it may leave those people with missing teeth down the road. At Marino Family Dental, we provide sedation dentistry to our anxious patients to help them feel relaxed while we do all the work.
Also called laughing gas, nitrous oxide is an excellent sedation option for patients with mild to moderate dental anxiety. You simply inhale the sweet-smelling gas through a mask placed over your nose. The gas creates a heightened sense of relaxation, so you feel calm and comfortable while our team completes your treatment. We can use nitrous oxide with any treatment to help ease your fears. Benefits of nitrous oxide sedation include:
If your anxiety about dental procedures is moderate to severe, we may recommend oral conscious sedation to help you get through your appointment. With this sedation method, we prescribe an anti-anxiety medication like Valium for you to take prior to your appointment. Once you’re in the dental chair, you should feel at ease and maybe even a little drowsy. You probably won’t even remember much of the appointment, but you’ll be conscious the entire time to answer questions or let us know if you need a break. We always work at a pace that’s comfortable for you. With the help of oral conscious sedation, we can perform more complex dental procedures in fewer appointments so you don’t have to keep coming back to our dental office.
Because the anti-anxiety medications used in oral conscious sedation stay in the body for longer, we require you to have someone drive you home after your appointment for your safety.
