Afraid of going to the dentist because of your nervousness about dental procedures? Many patients have a misconception in their mind that dental procedures are painful and uncomfortable. At Stonewall Dental Associates, we treat every patient with a lot of caution and care to make sure that your visit is comfortable and easy.
Why do people feel anxious?
Patients may feel nervous during a dental consultation due to the following reasons:
- Fear of pain : The fear of pain may be a result of an unpleasant dental visit in the past or the experiences told by others. However, dentistry advancements have allowed the procedures to be less painful or even pain-free in recent years.
- Fear of injections : The fear of injections can be increased when the needle is placed in the mouth. We only use injections when we have to administer anesthesia, which is not needed for some standard procedures like dental cleaning, teeth whitening, fillings, routine consultations, exams, etc.
- Fear of anesthesia : Some patients have a fear of numbness caused due to administering dental anesthesia. They may fear the feeling of dizziness induced by sedation.
We use moderate sedation in the form of nitrous oxide to calm the patients’ nerves during a dental consultation. Nitrous oxide, known by its common name ‘laughing gas,’ is a non-invasive and mild sedative used to induce calmness in the patient. We will administer a suitable dosage of laughing gas if you need sedation to stay calm and composed in the dental chair. It can be inhaled through a comfortably fitting mask, and it will just require a few minutes for the drug to take effect. Its effect would last for a few minutes based on the dosage, and it would wear off by itself without the need for a recovering agent. There are no known adverse effects of the drug, making it safe for use on individuals of all ages.