We have a comfort menu, so they can select the different things that they want. If they want to listen to music, we have iPads. They can pick their music. They can use noise-canceling headphones. For other sort of major things, we offer nitrous oxide, or as it’s called laughing gas. We offer oral sedation. There are pills that they take one the night before, a couple an hour and a half before the procedure, which helps relax them. Oftentimes, they’ll fall asleep during the procedure. Obviously, you’re gonna be anesthetized. You’re not gonna feel anything. We tell patients, “If you start feeling anything, raise your hand. We don’t want you to feel anything during the procedure. We’ll give you medication for afterwards to relieve any discomfort that you might have once the procedure is all finished.”
We want all our patients to feel comfortable, whether they have great anxiety or not. But most patients do have some anxiety. And then some have a severe anxiety. We just try and take the time on the front end to understand what’s happened, what their needs are, and what their anxieties are. And I would say in 99% of the cases, we’re able to overcome that from the very beginning listening to them, hearing their concerns, and not saying, “Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.” We will talk to them again. We want to find out what it is, what happened, so that, again, we don’t repeat that same situation for them.
Sedation Will Soothe Your Nerves
We will numb your mouth to ensure you don’t feel a thing. If you need a little extra help relaxing, you are welcome to choose one of our two sedation options. Laughing gas gives you a gentle sense of calm. It takes effect quickly and wears off fast too. You won’t have any problem driving yourself home. Or you can take oral sedation before your appointment, so you arrive feeling relaxed. Its effects last a few hours, so you will need to arrange a ride home.
To learn more about relieving dental anxiety in St. Petersburg or to make an appointment, call 727-732-3173. You can also schedule online.
