| Patients ask dentists for sedation and the dentists do everything
they can to talk them out of it. Most dentists do not want to go through
the additional training and accreditation process that is necessary to
sedate patients. You wouldn't think of having an ear operation or a nose
operation without sedation. But you move one inch to the teeth and it
becomes acceptable to endure time-consuming, strenuous, noisy, and
uncomfortable procedures on the most sensitive, personal part of the
body (the mouth) with no sedation.
Dentists attempt to work outside of the already established standard
of using sedation. Hence, we as dentists treat only 50% of the
population while physicians treat over 90%.
We have found that fearful patients mentally have no problem being
sedated for dental treatment. You ask a nervous patient, "Would you
rather have this work done in six appointments over the next two months
or in one appointment while you sleep?" and they look at you like you're
crazy. "Put me to sleep" is all they say.
Sedation for certain types of dental care has been used for over
thirty years. If you asked a hundred patients who have had their wisdom
teeth removed how they had it done, most would say they were put to
sleep to have them removed. The problem is that dentists say, "Oh wisdom
teeth extractions and root canals and drilling on teeth is not bad
enough." This is why 50% of the population does not go to the dentist.
The patient is the one who needs to determine what is bad enough for
them to warrant sedation, not the dentist. If you feel that sedation,
which is the standard care for the rest of the body, is necessary for
your dental care, call us.
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