Keep pain at bay with sedation dentistry in your local West Haven and Milford CT Dental Clinic

Sedation dentistry is here for one and all! You do not have to be a dental professional to know that many people are afraid of dentists. Certain dental procedures, such as a root canal, make people nervous just talking about it. Sometimes, people even pretend to have their dental concern resolved, just to avoid visiting their dentist. Fearing the dentist, and ignoring their current pain, actually makes it even harder to pick up the phone in West Haven or Milford CT to call your local dentist for an appointment. Because of the choices available today in sedation dentistry, there is no longer the need to delay your visit to the dentist.

Dental anxiety and fear

Dental anxiety and dental fear are two different entities but patients usually fail to differentiate which one they actually experience. The only thing in their mind is that they are frightened of pain a dentist or a dental procedure may cause them.

Dental fear is an instant reaction to perceived danger. Dental anxiety, on the other hand, is a feeling that something bad will happen. On entering a dental clinic, an anxious patient is already terrified of what might happen to him before even beginning a dental procedure.

Dental fear and dental anxiety is generally triggered by direct or second hand experience. People may have had unpleasant experiences from their previous dentists or dental procedures. Second hand experiences may be gathered through what patients hear and see from media and from other people.

Whether due to dental fear or dental anxiety, the pain threshold of a patient is lowered, resulting in even more fear and anxiety.

Sedation dentistry is the solution to your feelings of anxiety

Sedation dentistry involves the use of sedatives to achieve and maintain calmness and relaxation for a patient undergoing a dental procedure. Sedation dentists employ different methods and sedatives to manage dental fear and anxiety. Sedatives are medications a patient receive to relax his nervous system and responses.

Normally, your local West Haven and Milford CT sedation dentist, Dr. Joe Tartagni at Shoreline Dental Care, administers sedatives through either oral or inhalation pathways. With oral sedatives, patients take in pills before the treatment procedure transpires. Meanwhile, in inhalation sedation, as the term implies, the sedative agent is inhaled. Both of these types of dental sedation are called conscious sedation, because the patient stays awake during the procedure. The patient may be relaxed enough to drift off to sleep, at times, which is how sedation dentistry has gotten some of its nicknames- such as Twilight Dentistry and Sleep Dentistry.

Who can undergo dental sedation?

Any patient suffering dental fear and anxiety is a candidate for dental sedation. This also applies to those who have limited time for multiple appointments, who may request having a series of treatments scheduled into one appointment. Sedation may be used for patients having strong gag reflex, jaw pains and back or neck pains. Conscious sedation is also good for patients who normally have trouble getting numb with traditional methods of pain management.

If you are looking for a qualified sedation dentist in the West Haven and Milford CT areas, Dr. Joe Tartagni of Shoreline Dental Care is ready to relieve your anxiety and fears. Contact Shoreline Dental Care to schedule your appointment today.