Used to treat various levels of anxiety about going to the dentist, sedation dentistry helps patients face checkups and other procedures. If you are one of the many people who experience fears about sitting in the dentist’s chair, sedation dentistry may be the answer.

What is it?
Sedation dentistry makes you feel sleepy and at ease during dental treatment. Although it is sometimes referred to as sleep dentistry, it does not always put you completely to sleep. In many types of sedation dentistry, patients remain fully conscious and able to respond to questions and commands. However, patients become very relaxed and often don’t remember the treatment afterwards.

Are there different kinds?
There are several options of sedation dentistry that you can ask your dentist about:

• Oral sedation – medications are taken by mouth, making it an easy and needle-free method. You remain awake and able to communicate, which increases your safety and cooperation, but still minimizes your awareness of procedures both during treatment and afterwards.
• Nitrous oxide – often called laughing gas, nitrous oxide provides relaxation and a carefree attitude so that treatment can be performed easily and quickly.

What are the benefits?
Under sedation, patients can receive more extensive dental treatment than they might normally undergo in a single appointment. You might feel like your procedure lasted only a few minutes, while in reality it may have taken hours. This allows procedures that might normally require multiple appointments to be performed in only one or two appointments. Sedation dentistry also increases the likelihood of maintaining regular checkups so that your oral health is not neglected. Extensive dental work is often avoided due to proper and consistent treatment.