Calming
Most of our patients receive treatment using a local anaesthetic, with or without the prior use of a surface anaesthetic jelly, rubbed on to the gums. Especially with new patients to the clinic, some apprehension is understandable. We minimize your concerns by
- Listening carefully to your needs
- Making sure that the treatment is fully understood and agreed
- Progressing with treatment at a pace that is comfortable
We are aware of your anxieties and endeavour to deal with them sensitively.
There are some circumstances when it is appropriate to offer sedation as a further means of enabling patients to feel fully relaxed and confident to progress with their treatment.
The sedation
The sedation that we offer for patients who are particularly nervous of dental treatment, can take the following forms:-
- Taking a light sedative tablet in the clinic 30 minutes before your appointment. This eases your feelings of tension or anxiety.
- Breathing in a mixture of Nitrous Oxide and Oxygen, ( known as “space gas” or “fairy gas” for the youngsters and “relative analgesia” (RA), for the older patients).
- We also provide a more profound form of sedation, requiring a small injection into your arm, and with safety, you’re unaware of the treatment to follow. This leaves you feeling relaxed and drowsy, though able to tolerate lengthy periods of treatment without feeling anxious or stressed.
We minimize your concerns, listening carefully to your needs, making sure that the treatment is fully understood and agreed, progressing with treatment at a pace that is comfortable.
Being nervous or having a phobia about going to the dentist affects many people and in many different ways. These fears are sometimes due to half remembered unpleasant experiences as children, with the concern that these will be repeated and sometimes due to the remembered pain from a toothache. Some people have “needle” phobias, or are anxious about specific aspects of dental treatment and require reassurance. Others need to build a trusting relationship with the dentist, who is in such close contact and working in such a sensitive area.
I thoroughly enjoyed my treatment and feel quite confident and glamorous now. I can chew much better now. 