The era when fearing the dentist may have been at all rational is truly long gone. Nowadays, if you are nervous about having dental treatment, there are highly effective ways to help you overcome your fears and anxieties.
Here at Carbasse Implant and Dental Centre we specialise in treating anxious patients and offer Intravenous Conscious Sedation to help put you at ease during your treatment. Even those who are relaxed about dental treatment can choose to have conscious sedation for procedures such as extractions.
Patients who would benefit from receiving Intravenous (IV) sedation are seen by our expert anaesthetist Dr Laleh Sharifian*, who administers IV as a safe and effective way to provide excellent pain relief for complex or time-consuming cases. IV sedation is gently injected into the back of the hand and combines anaesthetic (numbing), analgesic (pain relief) and a sedative.
As well as experiencing no pain, you will feel relaxed, contented and sleepy, though you can be roused if the dentist needs to speak to you. The added benefit of this form of sedation is its amnesiac effect – after treatment, you will normally have little or no memory of the experience and likely believe that you slept through the whole procedure.
Helping to build a patients’ courage
One of many inspirational examples of what the team at Carbasse Implant and Dental Centre have achieved with nervous patients is that of Carl, who had an uncontrollable dental phobia to such an extent that he couldn’t even take his children to the dentist and sit in the reception, instead relying on his wife to do it. He even worried just walking past the dentist!
Eventually, after more than 30 years of non-attendance, he ended up in hospital and finally realised something needed to change. Carl came in for a consultation with our Practice Principal and Implant Dentist Mark Carbasse, who helped him to build up the courage to go through a series of vital implant procedures.
Carl explained: “It really is Mark who has helped me go through that treatment. Since the age of 14, I hadn’t had the confidence to smile without trying to drag my lips over my teeth. I didn’t realise how much you change as a person to have your smile, because I’d forgotten. The confidence and pride it gives you is a really big thing!”
To find out how we can help you overcome your fear of dental treatment and discuss the options for safe and effective sedation click here for a consultation appointment or call us today on 01227 273593.
*Dr Laleh qualified from Guy’s Hospital in 1999, having developed an early interest in sedation and dental anxiety as an undergraduate student. She chose to do her final year research within the field of anxiety for which she was awarded the Malleson Prize. She attained her postgraduate diploma in sedation from Guy’s Dental Hospital in 2002.
