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Although most of us are envious of the glitzy smiles which we see in magazines, we wouldn’t dare to undergo any of the drastic cosmetic dentistry procedures that celebrities often endure to transform their smiles. For many, it’s the cost factor that keeps them from the cosmetic dentist’s office to get porcelain veneers Lumineers in Dallas or their local area. Who can afford to pay several thousand dollars for a smile makeover when they have other financial obligations to attend to, such as a mortgage and car payment? Others, however, possess a different reason for not wanting a turn in the dental chair – fear. It’s no secret that many of us fear going to the dentist, so much so that we may have avoided going for several years. In the exhausting majority of cases, one or more painful past dental experiences leads patients to abandon the profession altogether. Some patients are able to brave another visit and eventually overcome their fear. Others, however, continue to struggle.

If you’ve been longing to receive some cosmetic work but still can’t muster the strength to visit a cosmetic dentist, perhaps you should consider visiting a sedation dentist that provides aesthetic services. Sedation dentists rely on the help of medications given either orally or intravenously to diminish a patient’s anxiety level. These medications, like laughing gas or nitrous oxide, are administered either on-site or given to the patient to take a few hours before their appointment. The dentist will have to asses the patient’s anxiety to determine which sedative to use.

Since cosmetic procedures employ the use of the dental drill and anesthesia injections, many patients stand to benefit from being sedated before treatment. Porcelain veneers and in some cases Lumineers dental veneers, for instance, require some tooth enamel removal before installation takes place. If a patient can’t handle the sight of a shot, nitrous oxide may have to be used. If the entire procedure makes them uneasy, more extreme forms of sedation might need to be used.

Before a patient is to be treated while sedated, the dentist will review their medical records to ensure that no foreseeable complications arise. The goals they intend to achieve with cosmetic dentistry will also be thoroughly discussed. This will help the dentist determine what restorations to use to maintain an optimal level of functionality and aesthetic refinement. Most sedation offices will work with you to arrange for convenient payment plans and will try their best to determine whether your insurer may cover any of your procedures. Once you’ve found a talented cosmetic sedation dentist to makeover your smile, you will have an entirely different outlook on the dentistry profession.

The introduction of safe new techniques has successfully alleviated dread and pain from the once scary dental appointment. Now that professional sedation dentistry has become readily available, the reasons for dental irrational fear are gone. This new type of painless dentistry not only assuages fear and anxiety, it also allows for several different treatments to be administered during one relaxed visit, a great time-saver in these busy days. Moreover, although the procedure may actually have taken an hour or more, sedation dentistry makes it seem as though it was over in a few minutes.

During the procedure, the patient receives one or more treatments preceding to the actual dental work. These techniques induce deep relaxation and allow for many formerly painful procedures to be done with absolutely no pain. Whether being fitted for dentures, implants, an extraction, cosmetic dentistry or orthodontics, a deep cleaning, a crown or a filling; the encouraging presence of a professional sedation dentist is the gentlest method to allay dental phobia.

Sedation dentistry puts a patient into a soothing dream-like state from which they frequently awake with no memory of the experience. There are several methods of inducing this effect, including pills sedation, intravenous injection, and inhalation. In the case of oral sedation, the dentist prescribes an anti-anxiety drug to be taken either the night before or several hours earlier than the appointment. Depending on various factors, these drugs can produce different sedative effects, from mild relaxation to sleep. Sleep medications like Ambien and Phenergen are frequently administered to the most anxious patients.

Intravenous (IV) sedatives are delivered at the time of the appointment. These involve the insertion of a catheter into a vein in either the arm or the back of the hand through which an injectable form of medicine is administered. After the sedative takes effect, the patient drifts off and a local anesthesia is injected into the site of the procedure. For deeper sedation and pain relief combined, narcotics may be substituted for milder sedatives. When using these medications, a patient’s vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level and breathing rate) are constantly monitored by trained personnel.

Probably the most well-known dental sedative is nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas”. A device like an oxygen mask is placed over the patient’s nose and mouth and the gas is breathed in. The effect is a pleasurable floating feeling that “removes” one from any sensation of pain. Vitals are also monitored during the administration of nitrous oxide.

Except in the case of intravenous sedation, the patient remains awake during the procedure and is able to talk with the dentist and his assistants. However, these drugs generally produce some amnesia, so that a patient might believe he slept through the whole thing.

Side effects are normally mild and may include dry mouth and a short bout of hiccups. The good news is that post-operative pain is generally greatly reduced or completely absent. To date, there have not been any reports of adverse effects, so there is no longer an excuse to neglect your oral health by postponing that visit to the dentist.