8 Procedures That Could Require Dental Sedation
Dental sedation isn’t right for every patient or in every dental procedure. Many patients never need help relaxing, regardless of the procedure. If, however, your fear of the dentist interferes with your dental health or your pain creates added anxiety, sedation may be the best option to help you. Sedation may also be a good option for long procedures that require you to stay in one position for a long time.
If you feel like you need helping getting through your next dental procedure, talk to your dentist about your options from nitrous oxide to oral sedation. Here are some of the most common procedures when dental sedation may be a good option for you.
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Routine Dental Procedures
Not all patients need sedation during a cleaning or check-up but some do. Patients with strong dental anxieties and fears use it as a way to stay calm and get through the procedure. Others may have an extremely strong gag reflex that makes even a cleaning difficult. Patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) benefit from sedation to help open their mouth wide enough for a procedure without too much pain.
Wisdom Tooth Removal
Removing wisdom teeth is a fairly straightforward procedure but sometimes a tooth may be impacted which requires more work. If you’re not used to or really don’t like the feeling of a tooth being removed, take help in relieving some of that discomfort, Patients who feel extreme pain or who are particularly anxious may also benefit from dental sedation.
Bone Grafting
Bone grafting is common in patients undergoing dental implant surgery or tooth extraction for dentures. During the procedure, your expert dentist takes bone from one area and grafts it onto a part of your jaw. This makes your jaw stronger and better able to handle implants or stay strong when you wear dentures. Because it’s often part of a longer, more intense procedure, sedation may be used.
Dental Implants
Even if you don’t need bone grafting during your dental implant procedure, sedation may be an option. This is especially true if you’re removing multiple teeth at one time. Dental sedation can help keep you calm and relaxed in what is, for many, an odd feeling of having teeth pulled. It also helps you as you must stay still with your mouth open for a while.
Jaw Surgery
You may have surgery on your jaw for any number of reasons. It’s often used to correct TMJ or to fix the alignment of your jaw to help your sleep apnea. Patients with longer, more invasive dental procedures can benefit from sedation as a way to help keep your jaw open and stop you from tensing up during the procedure.
Root Canal
When a tooth or your gum becomes infected, you may need a root canal in order to save it. If you’ve ever said, “I’d rather get a root canal…” in response to a thing you hate, you know root canals aren’t exactly popular. Dental sedation can help you get through the procedure with less pain and nervousness.
Tooth Extraction
Tooth extractions occur for a variety of reasons – to remove a broken tooth, to put in implants, to prep your mouth for dentures, or due to problems with gum disease. You might have one tooth removed or several. Having a single tooth pulled might not bother you, but several could. Either way, whether you’ve got dental phobias or you’re experiencing a more extreme tooth extraction, dental sedation can be helpful.
Emergency Dental Work
In some cases, your emergency was traumatic — an accident, a bad fall, or something that has you in a lot of pain and under great stress. Dental sedation can help you calm down so your dentist can take a look and fix as much as possible. Depending on the accident, you might be glad for the help relaxing, even if it’s only for a while.
Conclusion
Everyone’s situation is unique and what may bother one patient won’t phase the next. Never feel bad for needing extra help getting through your dental procedure or feeling unexpected pain. Dental sedation is meant to make it easier for you to get the quality dental care you need and deserve. Your physical health depends on having healthy teeth. Use sedation if it’s in your best interest and your dentist believes you’re a good candidate for it.
