Many of our Houston-area patients struggle with anxiety during dental appointments. If you have dental anxiety, it may stem from traumatic experiences in the past, or you may just have always been extremely uncomfortable during your appointments.
For patients whose anxiety might prevent them from otherwise seeking the treatment they need, sedation dentistry can be a great way to relax during your appointment. Please contact Dr. Ronald Konig today at 713-668-2289 to arrange a consultation.
What Is Sedation Dentistry?
As the name suggests, sedation dentistry allows you to be partially or fully sedated while Dr. Konig does his work. If you have fears or anxieties about visiting the dentist, sedation dentistry treatments offer you complete comfort and calm your nerves while you're here.
Oral conscious sedation is one kind of sedation we offer. Before your procedure, you take one or more pills to induce a deeply relaxed state. You remain fully conscious during your procedure (and able to respond to requests), but your anxiety is dramatically reduced. You'll need to arrange for someone to drive you home afterward, though, as the sedative takes some time to wear off.
Another sedation service we offer is nitrous oxide sedation, also known as laughing gas. Like oral sedation, you remain awake for your procedure, but the laughing gas keeps you calm while we work. A major advantage of nitrous oxide therapy is that the effects wear off very quickly after the nitrous oxide mask is taken away from your face, which means you can drive yourself home from the dentist's office after your appointment.
Intravenous sedation induces a deep sleep so that you're unaware of the procedure as we perform it. This type of sedation is typically reserved for invasive procedures which might otherwise be too uncomfortable for a conscious patient, such as tooth extraction or the placement of a dental implant.
Which Sedation Method Is Best for Me?
Dr. Konig consults with you individually to determine whether sedation is a good option. A few different considerations determine whether sedation is right for you, and if so, what kind of sedation:
- Your general health and health history
- The nature of the procedure being performed
- The level of anxiety you normally experience
Sedation dentistry has revolutionized how we treat people who experience fear of the dentist's office. To discover if it's right for you, please contact Dr. Ronald Konig today at 713-668-2289 to schedule an appointment.
