Many American men, women and children skip dental care altogether because of their fear of the dentist or simply because of pain. This is an unfortunate reality considering that about 9-15% of Americans skip much needed dental care, causing them to lose their teeth due to infections and gum disease. Prevention is one thing for stopping problems before they can even occur, but neglect when care is most needed is an unfortunate ongoing practice in this country.

Many dentists now offer sedation dentistry. And while the process may sound still a little too scary for people with dental phobias, traumas and trust issues, it’s what many of the 9-15% have been going for in the recent years.

Dental fear shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s a serious, often orally destructive paralyzing fear. Sedation dentistry basically aims to relieve the anxiety of patients with milder fear and completely sedate (into sleep) those with severe fear. There are three basic modes of sedation: anxiolysis, moderate sedation and deep sedation. Anxiolysis makes use of the popular nitrous oxide or laughing gas, or sedative pills and tablets such as Xanax. This mode merely relaxes the patient, relieving all unnecessary anxiety.

Moderate sedation may be administered orally or through IV or intravenous means. Unlike anxiolysis, this mode almost makes the patient feel that he or she is asleep, but the patient is still able to respond to stimuli. The patient is still able to breathe without help even when asleep. The IV methods are most used by Sedation Dentistry Paradise Valley practitioners around the country because the result is instantaneous.

On the other hand, deep sedation takes the patient into deep sleep, and the effect may remain a few hours after the surgery. This modality of sedation is not commonly used in sedation dentistry in Scottsdale and in other areas because in most cases, moderate sedation mixed with an amount of anesthetic is enough.

For patients who freeze up even before going to the dentist, specialists of sedation dentistry in Scottsdale prescribe a kind of sedative that’s to be taken even before the patient is driven to the hospital by family, friend or caregiver.