When you undergo oral surgery, you could feel nervous about the prospect, especially if you have dental anxiety. But our team can offer options to help you feel comfortable, such as the use of dental sedation. At your Metairie, LA, oral surgery clinic, we’re looking at three different dental sedation options!
When You Need a Calming Option
Our team may recommend this for people undergoing more extensive treatments, such as tooth extraction, dental implant placement, or procedures like jawbone grafting or a sinus lift. We also suggest this for those with dental anxiety. We never want to minimize your fears, and instead want to offer treatment that helps you enter a state of calm and relaxation, with little to no memory of the procedure. This can also be helpful for those with special needs that make undergoing care a difficult prospect sometimes.
Selecting the Proper Sedation for You
We have multiple sedation options to help our patients, and we take a number of different factors into account when we recommend one. For example, we look at your age, weight, and your medical history, including any medications you’re currently taking. Our team will also assess your anxiety level and special needs too. We want to choose the right option to ensure you enjoy a comfortable experience in our office!
Three Different Selections
The most commonly prescribed option is nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. You will inhale a gas through a mask over your nose, and enter a state of relaxation and calm. You remain conscious, but have little memory of the procedure afterward. The effects can be adjusted during treatment and wear off once the procedure ends. You can even drive yourself home or return to work or school.
Oral conscious sedation again lets you remain conscious and able to respond to the dentist, but is a deeper state of calm, leaving you with little memory of the procedure. We administer this through a pill or liquid prior to the procedure, and the effects won’t wear off right away, so be sure a friend or family member is on hand to take you home.
The deepest form is administered through an IV, and a trained anesthesiologist will be available to monitor you throughout the process. The medication offers the deepest state of calm, with no memory of the procedure, and the effects will take time to wear off, so have someone ready to take you home afterward.
Talk to Your Metairie, LA Dentist About Our Calming Selections
We want to help ensure that your oral surgery is comfortable, even if you have dental anxiety. For more information on how we ensure a calm and positive experience at our office, reach out to our Metairie, LA oral surgery clinic at (504) 455-7161.