oral conscious sedation Archives - Cornerstone Dentistry

Help! My Mouth is a Mess!

Posted on June 2, 2021 by writeradmin.

I need some advice. My mouth is an absolute mess. I know it. I am in pain all the time and, yet, I can never seem to actually pick up the cell phone and schedule an appointment. The visits are always excruciating. Then, there is the judgment shade thrown at me by the dentist. Is there a way I can get out of again and back on track in a way that doesn’t make me wish I was dead? Do all appointments have to feel like torture?

Carol G.

Dear Carol,

Dental appointments definitely do not have to feel like torture. I’m sorry your past appointments have not reflected this. Believe me when I say you are not alone in your dental anxiety. The good news is I can help you move forward in getting your dental health back, all with an anxiety-free/pain-free way. The key will be to find a dentist who offers dental sedation. Because you will likely need. a lot of work, I am going to recommend that you have oral conscious sedation.

This is a strong sedation administered by a pill. It does not knock you out, but it is so strong that you will need someone to drive you to and from your appointment, as well as stay with you until you are lucid and steady on your feet again. Most patients are so relaxed they sleep through their entire appointment. In addition to giving you a pain free appointment, it also allows the dentist to do more work at each appointment. This will enable you to catch up on your dental work much faster.

The goal is to save as many of your teeth as possible. However, you mentioned you are in a lot of pain. To me, that indicates there is already some decay and possibly even infections there. I don’t know how extensive they will be but if you end up with a tooth that cannot be saved, I am going to recommend you get a dental implant to replace it. These are most like having a healthy, natural tooth in your jaw again and can help prevent bone loss in your jaw.

I am proud of your desire to get your oral health back and facing your fears. I think you will find that dental sedation will change your life.

This blog is brought to you by Sugar Land Dentist Dr. Thomas Siny.

High Resistance to Novocain

Posted on March 5, 2021 by writeradmin.

I have the unfortunate body type that has a high resistance to Novocain. This makes every dental appointment a bit of a nightmare. For quite a few years I have avoided the dental chair with everything in me. I know I have teeth that need to come out and more than probably can be saved if I can tolerate the work. I really want a pretty smile. Is there any way to deal with this?

Ebony

Dear Ebony,

I wonder who told you that your body type was the cause of your Novocain resistance? Unless you have something that makes you resistant to all medication, I don’t think I would settle for that. There is a connection between dental anxiety and Novocain resistance. It’s a connection that has only in recent years become more well known. We are not sure why, but the higher your anxiety, the more quickly the medication will burn off.

The best solution to this is to go to a dentist who can provide you dental sedation options. This will relax you enough for the numbing medication to work. If you need a lot of work, and it sounds like you do, I would like to recommend that you use oral conscious sedation. This is administered by a pill. It will relax you enough that you will likely sleep through your appointment.

Your dentist will be able to get more work done at each setting allowing you to get caught up faster. The only real downside is you will need to have someone drive you to and from your appointment as well as stay with you for a few hours afterward, just until you are lucid and stable on your feet.

If you truly have teeth that cannot be saved, you will want to replace them as soon as possible. My suggestion would be to replace them with dental implants. These are the closest thing to having a healthy, natural smile again. The crowns can be made to match your teeth perfectly, if you go to a dentist with some cosmetic skill as well as expertise in cosmetic training.

One thing I would suggest is sometime before the implant crowns are made you get your teeth whitened. The color of the crowns is permanent, so if you whiten the teeth afterward, you will have to re-do the crowns in order to get them to match. Doing the teeth whitening ahead of time, will save you money in the long run.

This blog is brought to you by Sugar Land Dentist Dr. Siny Thomas.

Dentist Couldn’t Get Me Numb

Posted on October 12, 2020 by writeradmin.

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.

She Needs a Second Opinion About this Tooth

Posted on August 2, 2020 by writeradmin.

I need some advice. I don’t know if I’m not trusting this dentist because of legitimate reasons or because of my fear of any dental work. I don’t want to put myself at risk, but I don’t want to put myself through any torture unnecessarily. I had a toothache starting last week and went to see a dentist today. I don’t have a regular dentist because of my anxiety and just tend to go when an issue comes up. He did an x-ray and said that a tooth which already had a filling would need to come out. He said only 10% of the tooth was still viable and the tooth would need to be extracted. This absolutely terrifies me. Is a second opinion worth it or should I just suck it up and get this tooth extracted? He also said I’d need a dental implant afterward to replace it.

Sandy

Dear Sandy,

I think this warrants a second opinion. Here’s why. First, a tooth that far gone would not require an x-ray. The decay would be massive and visible. Additionally, your filling would literally have fallen into the tooth. Thirdly, you said this tooth just started hurting last week. I believe this would have been hurting for longer than that. All of this is making me suspicious.

The only thing I agree with him on is a dental implant if the tooth needed to be extracted. They are the closest thing to having a healthy natural tooth again. Plus, it is always important to replace a missing tooth to avoid throwing off your bite and developing painful TMJ Disorder. However, I’m not convinced your tooth does. Something to consider when getting a second opinion is to make sure it is what is known as a blind second opinion.

Many dentists, especially in the same area, are friends with one another. They’re part of the same professional peer groups. It is always awkward for one dentist to say something negative or in disagreement with a friend. Because of that, it is easier for both of you if you just ask him to look at the tooth and give his opinion on how to deal with it without telling him who the dentist was and what his diagnosis was. He should completely understand you wanting a blind second opinion.

A Word About Dental Anxiety

It is very common for patients to have dental anxiety. One thing we want to do is get you to a place where you are not just seeing a dentist when you have a dental emergency. That both increases your anxiety and is much more expensive for you. To that end, I would highly recommend for you to see a sedation dentist for a while.

There are varying levels of sedation. For just your checkups and cleanings, you will likely only need nitrous oxide, which relaxes you. However, whenever you have a more extensive procedure, you may prefer oral conscious sedation. This is sometimes called sleep dentistry, because it is so strong you can actually just sleep through the procedure.

Many patients with anxiety find that using dental sedation as needed completely changes their lives. If you keep up with simple cleanings and checkups you are able to catch things much sooner. This not only will save you a TON of money for not needing the bigger more expensive fixes, but will also make your treatments much less invasive and scary.

I do understand how frightening dental work can be. You’ll find dentists who offer sedation are much more compassionate and understanding about those who struggle with dental anxiety.

This blog is brought to you by Sugarland Dentist Dr. Siny Thomas.