Your relaxing, comfortable, stress-free dental experience awaits:
“Sleep dentistry” to the rescue!
Though there is absolutely nothing to fear at Orion Dental Specialties, we understand that dental fear is common and often rooted in negative childhood experiences at other dentists’ offices. The husband-wife duo of Dr. Melanie and Dr. Farnam Farzam also understand that each patient’s experience with and response to dentistry is deeply personal. To that end, our team in Cypress, Texas, offers minimal and moderate sedation and deeper forms of sedation dentistry.
When minimal sedation with nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) or with a prescription oral sedative is not sufficient to calm patients experiencing moderate to severe levels of anxiety, our dentists may recommend IV sedation. Your safety is assured at every step of treatment. In fact, there are numerous safeguards that must be put in place before a dentist can offer these deeper levels of sedation. So, not every dental office has the training, equipment, and qualifications required to treat very anxious patients or patients undergoing complex or multiple surgical procedures on-site.
Dentist offices often are only qualified to administer laughing gas, which helps patients relax but remain awake and respond to commands. Some practices may be qualified to offer more moderate levels of oral conscious sedation, which involves prescribing a specific type of relaxing medication to bring about calming effects. These patients may become so drowsy that they fall asleep and may not recall certain parts of the procedure.
Deep sedation at the dentist’s office has been called “sleep dentistry” because patients fall asleep and stay that way throughout the procedure. This approach also induces amnesia; the patient may recall little (if anything) about treatment. When administered in the appropriate medical setting by certified clinicians and specialists, drugs administered intravenously to induce deeper levels of sedation are:
- Safe
- Effective
- Work quickly
- Easy to adjust (dosing)
It’s important to follow instructions before and after IV sedation; for instance, Dr. Melanie or Dr. Farnam may discuss when to start fasting before your procedure. Since IV sedation can cause lingering drowsiness, you must arrange for someone to drive you home.
Contact Orion Dental Specialties to find out more!
Not every patient is an appropriate candidate, nor do they need deeper levels of sedation. Our dentists encourage you to be open and to bring your concerns to them. From there, they can develop an approach that fights fear or other obstacles to your most pleasant dental experience. Our office in Cypress, TX, can be reached at (832) 906-8313.