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With the exception of an iron maiden, there are few devices the average person would rather recline in than a dentist's chair. According to the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation (DOCS), as much as 30 percent of the population avoids dental appointments due to fear. The condition is known as dentophobia, odontophobia, or just plain dental phobia. But whichever term you might use, it is a serious disorder because it prevents millions of Americans from getting the dental care they need. Why Is It Necessary? While it is true that most oral care can be completed at home, e.g. brushing, flossing, and rinsing, there are some procedures we cannot handle on our own. Cracked teeth, swollen gums, and toothaches aren't always caused by neglect. In some cases, plaque forms in hard-to-reach places and then hardens into tartar. These calcified deposits contain bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease if left untreated. At the very least, an infected tooth will cause almost unbearable pain and may need to be extracted if its roots are destroyed. Of the 30 percent of Americans who suffer from some form of dentophobia, about one-third of them avoid the dentist for years, even decades at a time, due to fear. These folks typically develop serious oral health issues as they age, since they do not receive professional cleanings. As a result, hardened tartar often accumulates along their gum lines and causes cavities or infections. The Solution Just about every survey confirms that dentists are the most feared professionals on earth, which is why some of them now offer sedation dental care as an alternative. What is it? As its name implies, sedation dentistry uses sedatives such as tranquillizers, nitrous oxide, depressants, and anti-anxiety medications, to put patients in a calm state of mind. The Benefits Psychologically speaking, most people don't fear dentists; they fear the actual procedure, i.e., sitting down in the chair, having a bright light shone in their mouths, and being poked and prodded at with metallic instruments. Sedation dental care can remove all of these offending images and sensations and can make any procedure seem like it only lasted minutes - even if it took hours to complete. This is particularly helpful when a procedure requires multiple visits, which would be an absolute nightmare for anyone who suffers from dentophobia. Is It Safe? Commonly called sleep dentistry, procedures that involve sedation never actually put the patient to sleep. Technically, the patient remains awake but is in such an extreme state of relaxation that measuring time in a traditional way is not possible. More often than not, the patient will remember nothing or only brief fragments of the procedure he or she had done. Cost Unless you have several procedures performed at once, it is unlikely that your insurance provider will pay for sedation dentistry. With that said, it is a godsend for patients who suffer from acute dentophobia and would not see the dentist without it. To learn more about their options for Danvers dental care, residents should visit http://stevenacorben.com/why-choose-us.php.
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