Sedation Dentistry

Great Boca Smiles prides itself as a place where patients look forward to visiting their Dentist and hygienists. However, we do realize that some people are anxious about visiting their family dentist. The anxiety is what inhibits people from receiving proper dental care. Some people will allow the health of their teeth to deteriorate. Brushing, flossing, and rinsing are the foundation of proper dental hygiene, but good dental hygiene requires monitoring and maintenance from a Dentist regularly.

Great Boca Smiles offers Sedation Dentistry to its patients. The purpose of Sedation Dentistry is first to relax the patient removing their anxiety, and secondly to prevent them from feeling pain. There are three types of Sedation, and Great Boca Smiles will discuss with you the best course of Sedation based on your health and your personal needs.

• Minimal Sedation – Patient is awake and relaxed
• Moderate Sedation – (or conscious Sedation) Patient may slur their speech and have little if any memory of the procedure.
• Deep Sedation – On the verge of consciousness but can still be woken up.

Great Boca Smiles offers anxiety-free Dentistry using Oral Sedation and Nitrous oxide. To be qualified to administer Oral Sedation, the Dentist must be educated and trained to manage the medication properly. The patient must be monitored throughout the procedure by the Dentist. Most people who elect for Oral Sedation remember little of their visit and aren’t aware that the process occurred. Our goal is to create a relaxed, comfortable environment where you will experience little or no anxiety with little or no memory of the appointment.

Levels of Sedation and how they are administered to dental patients:

Anxiolytic Dentistry: A pharmacologically induced state of consciousness where an individual is awake but has decreased anxiety to facilitate coping skills, retaining interaction ability.

Conscious Sedation: The patient experiences a depressed level of consciousness. The patient maintains their airway and reflexes and responds to physical and verbal stimuli.

Deep Sedation: A depressed level of consciousness whereby the patient may not respond to physical or verbal stimuli, may not maintain their reflex mechanisms, and needs assistance in managing their airway.

Who is a candidate:

• Person’s with severe gag response.
• Anxious, phobic, fearful patients’.
• The patient is resistant to a local anesthetic.
• Time constraints ie, a need longer appointments.
• Complex restorative patients’.
• Postoperative pain sensitive patients’.
• Less expensive than general anesthesia and IV sedation.