I had to have my first real dental procedure that wasn’t just a dental cleaning. I developed a cavity on one tooth and a tooth infection on another which required a root canal treatment. I heard these were awful so I was quite nervous. It was worse than even I expected. The pain was excruciating even though my dentist tried eleven shots to get me numb. Eleven. The dentist eventually stopped and refunded my money. We’re going to try again in two days and I am super nervous. Have you heard of this happening before?
Macey
Dear Macey,
You can sleep through your dental appointments if you want to.
I’m going to share something with you that not even many dentists know. There is a connection between anxiety and the effectiveness of the numbing medication you receive for your procedure. The higher the anxiety, the less effective the medicine. You mentioned you were nervous going in. That combined with the pain you experienced at first likely jumped your anxiety up through the roof. This kicked up your metabolism and burned off the meds almost as soon as you received them.
Fortunately, there is a solution. You need to see a dentist who offers dental sedation options. There are varying levels of sedation. Nitrous oxide is the mildest and most dentists offer that. It is sometimes called laughing gas because it gives you a floaty feeling.
In your position, given the horrible experience you recently had, I’d like you to see a dentist who offers something stronger. I think you need oral conscious sedation (OCS).
This is administered by a pill, but it is so strong you will need someone to drive you to and from your appointment as well as stay with you for a few hours afterward until you are lucid and steady on your feet again. Though you won’t have to, you will be able to sleep through your appointment if you would prefer that. This is why some people call OCS sleep dentistry.
This has changed the lives of patients who have avoided the dentist for years because of their dental anxiety. You’ll find you can get through any procedure, including your dreaded root canal treatment with no problem.
This blog is brought to you by Sugar Land Dentist Dr. Siny Thomas.