dentist puts inhalation sedative mask on his patient.

Sedation Dentistry: Overcoming Dental Anxiety for a Stress-Free Experience

At Hebert Family Dentistry, we are dedicated to providing the best in dental care to residents of North Lafayette, Louisiana, and the surrounding communities. While dental care is essential for good health, we understand that for many, visiting the dentist can be a highly stressful event. Having anxiety about visiting the dentist is a common reaction. When you’re anxious about getting dental treatment, this can cause you to not go to the dentist for regular checkups or even when you need dental care. Waiting until a dental visit is unavoidable is not a good way to care for your dental health.

The use of sedation dentistry is a method to help people relax when receiving dental care and to reduce their anxiety.

Sedation Dentistry Explained

Anxiety involving dental care can have many root causes. For some people, it could be discomfort with the procedure, bad past experiences, or a dislike of pain and discomfort. Sedation Dentistry helps address these issues. This process involves the use of medication to help you to relax. It is a useful tool if you are anxious about dental procedures, or you just need to relax due to general nervousness. Sedation dentistry makes use of different types of medication to help you relax. Nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas, is the sedative most people think of when they think of density. While it does still see some use, many dentists prefer to make use of oral sedation in pill form.

The Advantages of Oral Medication

In many cases, oral medication is the best solution. These are easily digestible pills taken before your procedure. They help you become relaxed easily and through a method you are likely familiar with. Many patients find other methods of sedation off-putting, but swallowing a pill is easier to do and something you may do daily already through vitamins and other medication. This helps you stay relaxed and reduces pain, making your procedure easier.

Reasons To Use Sedation Dentistry

We want your visit to our office to be as pleasant as possible, and we certainly never want to cause any of our patients undue stress. For some people, stress at the dentist is hard to avoid. This is where sedation dentistry can help.

There are several reasons to consider using sedation dentistry to help improve your dental care experience.

  • Reduce Anxiety: fear can prevent you from getting needed dental care which can lead to long-lasting damage to your oral health. With sedation dentistry, this fear and the associated anxiety can be greatly reduced. This allows you to get the treatment you need without feeling afraid or anxious.   
  • Make You More Comfortable: dental procedures are often not pleasant experiences for most people. Sedation makes the whole process a lot more comfortable and easier to manage. It increases your comfort and also makes the process easier for your dentist.

Who Should Use Sedation Dentistry

If you’re wondering if sedation dentistry is right for you, keep the following in mind. If you have anxiety or aversion to dental care, this can help reduce these feelings and make dental treatments and procedures a lot easier to deal with. Also, you may want to use sedation for certain types of procedures even if dentist visits normally don’t bother you. Highly complex or involved procedures can cause heightened levels of stress and sedation helps make the process easier and more comfortable. If you have questions about sedation dentistry, we can certainly answer them.

When You Need Dental Care, You Can Rely On 

At Hebert Family Dentistry, we have been providing the highest level of care to all our patients in North Lafayette, Louisiana since 2014. We strive to provide you with dental care and support using the latest dental advancements in technology and care methods. As professionals, we are dedicated to continuing to learn and improve upon our methods and medical knowledge to provide you with the best possible dental experience. When you need dental care, reach out to us today to learn more about our services.