Sedation Dentistry

Our warm, welcoming office and friendly, professional staff usually ease our patients’ fears right away, and many people with dental phobia never even need any sedation once they arrive at our practice.

Should you need sedation dentistry so we can perform fast and comfortable dental care, here are the options:

• Oral Conscious Sedation
• Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas)

Oral conscious sedation involves prescribing medication to our patients to help them better cope with the necessary dental work. You may have such severe anxiety that you need anti-anxiety medication before your appointment and even the night before to help you sleep. If you’re a good candidate for anti-anxiety medication, you will get a prescription before your appointment with instructions on when to take it. Due to the side effects of the medication, you will need someone to drive you to and from your dental appointment.

Nitrous oxide helps patients relax while Dr. Bath and his team work on your mouth. Laughing gas is the mildest form of sedation dentistry and will put you at ease quickly. When laughing gas is administered, you will fall into a dreamlike state, remaining relaxed until your dental work is done. You will need someone to drive you home following your dental appointment, as the nitrous oxide will not have worn off by the time the work is complete.

Most of our patients don’t know why they are so anxious about going to a dentist because they have never had a bad experience at a dentist’s office; however, other patients have very bad memories that have led them to be fearful of the dentist:

One of the beautiful things about dental sedation is that you will likely have little or no memory of your dental appointment. The medication for dental anxiety often leaves patients with only a blurry memory of their dental procedures. That’s excellent news for those of you who hate the sounds and smells of a dental office.

You may not even be sure you have dental anxiety. It’s estimated that as many as one out of every three adults suffers from dental anxiety, so you’re not alone if you’ve been putting off your twice-yearly cleanings and exams due to fear of the dentist. You may benefit from sedation dentistry at Impressions Dentistry if you show any of these signs and symptoms of dental anxiety/dental phobia: