How Oral Conscious Sedation Dentistry Helps Those with Dental Anxiety

You’re not alone. Many people are afraid of the dentist. At the office of Dr. Erik Swanson, DMD, we have long since known that many of our patients seem to struggle with some form of anxiety, and although we try our best to make sure you are as comfortable and happy as possible, we know that anxiety is complex and it’s not abnormal to feel fear about going to your dental visit.

This issue can also get especially challenging when a person has more significant dental problems. If it’s already difficult to come in for a basic cleaning and checkup due to anxiety, it is often exponentially harder when you have to come for multiple, more in depth appointments.

So how is this level of fear treated?

About Oral Conscious Sedation

From the moment you walk in our doors, we do everything we can to make you comfortable. Our staff gets to know you as a person. We walk and talk you through any procedure. We do our best to make everything as pain and discomfort free as possible. Our hope, of course, is that you feel relaxed enough with us to come to all your appointments without reservation.

But anxiety can be powerful, and when your fear is too strong to get you through your appointments, one solution that Dr. Swanson is able to offer is called “Oral Conscious Sedation.”

Oral conscious sedation is a method of sedating someone so that they can come into the office more relaxed. It doesn’t require general anesthesia, and patients that undergo this type of sedation are not put to sleep. Rather, it combines safe medications with nitrous oxide (NO), so that patients are in such a relaxed state that they are able to coast through the procedure.

This approach us useful for many different fears and phobias:

• Fear of needles
• Fear of the dentist
• Fear of pain/trauma

It also has several advantages, in addition to reducing patient anxiety. Because the patient is conscious, they can communicate and react to the procedures. Yet patients often have fewer or weaker memories of the events, which means that the event is less stressful and causes fewer unwanted memories.

Oral conscious sedation also means that it’s easier to perform more procedures at once, reducing visits and aiding in recovery.

Is Oral Sedation Right For You?

If you’re comfortable with the dentist, or your anxiety is not too severe, it’s always recommended that you consider coming to the dental office without any medication. But if you feel like you need a bit of extra support, ask Dr. Swanson if you are a good candidate for oral conscious sedation. Dr. Swanson is one of the few dentists in Visalia capable of providing this type of sedation.

Contact our office if you would like to learn more or have struggled with dental anxiety in the past and would like a Visalia dentist that can help.

Give us a call at 559-732-4543. We are located at 2310 W Whitendale Ave., Suite C Visalia, CA 93277.