Sedation Dentistry

Serving Chicago and surrounding areas

If you feel anxious at the thought of visiting a dentist, you are not alone. Many people feel not just anxious, but almost panicked. Some people procrastinate until the day arrives when they feel a toothache starting, and that provides the motivation to call their dentist.

It is always better to catch a problem early while it is still small. At Colonial Dental Group we offer Sedation Dentistry to help you relax and stay calm. Local anesthesia will block any pain and a calming medication will reduce any emotional unrest like fear or anxiety.

When you arrive for your appointment, we will welcome you and give you the medication to take orally. There needs to be time for it to take effect and you can relax in one of our comfortable chairs until you feel the anxiety draining away. If you prefer, you can have nitrous oxide (laughing gas), which also induces a relaxed feeling. It is administered through a mask while your dental work is being done.

The advantage of nitrous oxide is that when you remove the mask, the sedative effects wear off at once. If you choose an oral medication, you will need to arrange for a ride home. That is because the sedating effects take a few hours to wear off and you would not be a safe driver in the meantime. The body needs time to excrete it from the bloodstream.

Twilight Sedation

In some cases we can give you a sedative through an intravenous line directly into the bloodstream. This is a deeper form of sedation and will leave you with little or no memory of your dental work. You will not be entirely unconscious like a hospital patient having surgery -- you would be able to respond to requests, like “Please turn your head more this way”.

When you come for your initial check-up and consultation, you can discuss these sedation options with your dentist and together you can determine which way to go.

Advantages of Dental Sedation

If you feel nervous about dental work, an advantage of having some form of sedation dentistry is that more work can be done in one visit. Your dentist can work more quickly when you are calm and still and can perhaps do several procedures in the same visit.

For example, you could have dental bonding to fill any small chips or gaps as well as one or two porcelain fillings. Since we have CEREC technology, you would not have to wait several weeks for a dental lab to make your porcelain fillings and then come back for a second visit so they could be placed. With CEREC, we can make them in our office while you are still here. You would not need to have any temporary fillings. The same would apply to porcelain crowns – it can all be done in one visit.

To learn more about sedation dentistry, please call or email our cosmetic dentistry office today. We serve Chicago and the surrounding areas, and we hope to meet with you soon.