Are you afraid of the dentist? Have you been putting off years’ worth of dental care because you just can’t face the chair? Dr. Patel can help.
Are you a candidate for sedation dentistry?
Does this scenario sound all too familiar? You’re in The Chair, sweating. Your dentist has given you a shot of Novocain, and it seemed like it was working, but as soon as he starts to work, you can feel the pain in your tooth. He gives you another shot. Your lip is completely numb, but once again, you can feel everything the dentist is trying to do to your tooth. Now your dentist seems frustrated, and your anxiety level is through the roof.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
There is a biological reason this happens to you. Dr. Patel understands that pain is a complex issue, and high levels of anxiety can render Novocain useless as a numbing agent. He is trained to safely administer oral medication to reduce your anxiety and make your dental treatments much more comfortable.
Most people who have high levels of dental anxiety have had bad dental care experiences in the past, which has conditioned them to expect pain with dental treatments. Dr. Patel can administer an oral sedative that will ease your anxiety, which will in turn allow the Novocain to work properly.
The level of sedation is called “conscious sedation”, because although you are very sleepy, relaxed and essentially indifferent to the dental procedure, your body’s protective reflexes are still active and functional. This means, for example, that you still would cough to clear your airway. This kind of sedation can be safely done in an dental office setting, by a dentist like Dr. Patel who has been trained in the administration of this kind of medication.
If the thought of sitting in The Chair makes you break into a cold sweat, Dr. Patel can help you. Contact our office or use our convenient Make an Appointment form to discuss sedation dentistry with Dr. Patel and his team.
A lay term for sedation dentistry is sleep dentistry. See our page on sleep dentistry for more information about the medication.