Anxiety?

Does anxiety hold you back from getting dental treatment you need?

  • Do you have trouble with gagging or getting numb?
  • Do you have jaw or back pain?
  • Do you have difficulty sitting in dental chair?
  • Are you too busy to travel to dental office too many times to get the treatment you need?
  • Are you seeking dental treatment in a more desirable manner?

Sedation dentistry could help you getting the treatment you need if you answer yes to any of the above questions.

At Sigma, we offer three options to make your visit even more pleasant.

Oral sedation

You will get your treatment while you are relaxed under conscious sedation. Although you will not feel any pain, you will be able to respond to our questions and commands and have minimal, if any, post operative discomfort.

Conscious sedation is an excellent option for fearful dental patients and a way to treat dental anxiety so you can get the dental treatment you need.

Nitrous Oxide sedation (Laughing Gas)

Nitrous Oxide is a sweet-smelling, non-irritating, colorless gas which you can breathe.  It has been the primary means of sedation in dentistry for many years. Nitrous oxide is safe, the patient receives 50-70% oxygen with no less than 30% nitrous oxide.  The patient is able to breathe on their own and remain in control of all bodily functions.  The patient may experience mild amnesia and may fall asleep, not remembering all of what happened during their appointment.

There are many advantages to using Nitrous Oxide

  • The depth of sedation can be altered at any time to increase or decrease sedation.
  • There is no after effect such as a “hangover”.
  • Inhalation sedation is safe with no side effects on your heart and lungs, etc.
  • Inhalation sedation is very effective in minimizing gagging.
  • It works rapidly as it reaches the brain within 20 seconds. In as little as 2-3 minutes its relaxation and pain killing properties develop.

IV Sedation

Our office offers our patients the option of Intravenous Sedation or Dental Intravenous Anesthesia or to some it is referred to as “Twilight Sedation” for their dental treatment. Intravenous Sedation or “twilight sleep” helps you to be comfortable and calm when undergoing dental procedures. Your treatment can be completed under intravenous sedation. Intravenous sedation or “IV sedation” (twilight sedation) is designed to better enable you to undergo your dental procedures while you are very relaxed; it will enable you to tolerate as well as not remember those procedures that may be very uncomfortable for you. IV sedation will essentially help alleviate the anxiety associated with your treatment. You may not always be asleep but you will be comfortable, calm and relaxed, drifting in and out of sleep – a “twilight sleep”.

If you choose the option of intravenous sedation your IV sedation/anesthesia is administered and monitored by the doctor therefore eliminating the costly expense of having your treatment carried out in an operating room or same day surgical facility.

How is the IV sedation administered?

A thin needle will be introduced into a vein in your arm or hand. The needle will be attached to an intravenous tube through which medication will be given to help you relax and feel comfortable. At times a patient’s vein may not be maintainable, in these situations the medications will be administered and the needle retrieved – both scenarios will achieve the same desired level of conscious sedation. Once again some patients may be asleep while others will slip in and out of sleep. Some patients with medical conditions and/or on specific drug regimens may only be lightly sedated and may not sleep at all.

The goal of IV sedation is to use as little medication as possible to get the treatment completed. It is very safe, much safer than oral sedation. With IV sedation a constant “drip” is maintained via the intravenous tube. At any time an antidote can be administered to reverse the effects of the medications if necessary. Along with IV sedation there are also other different “levels” of sedation available to you in our office.

Give us a call today!
You’ll be happy you chose us!