Sedation
At the end of 2022, we started offering our patients oral conscious sedation and nitrous oxide. It’s been a game-changer for our community. Being in a small beach town we had to refer patients out of town. Some had to travel thirty-five minutes to an hour for their sedation treatment. A lot more goes into sedation appointments for patients; for example, they must schedule consultation appointments and have a driver accompany them. If the patient needed to travel a great distance, it was difficult.
The dentist I work for, Dr. Parr, saw sedation as a huge need in our community. He wanted to address the need not only for the growth of our practice but also to help the patients who require sedation.
Offering nitrous oxide to our patients eliminates travel time and improves patient treatment outcomes. The level of nitrous oxide can be increased or decreased at any time by the doctor based on the patient’s needs. There are no aftereffects or ill feelings once the dental procedure is done. Also, it works within just a few minutes to help make the patient comfortable before starting the procedure. It also helps effectively minimize sensitive gag reflexes.
Being able to offer nitrous oxide has helped in our practice by easing the minds of dentists and patients. Especially when we can offer it to children who need dental treatment, as doctor or dental visits can be intimidating for them. We get them in twice yearly for routine visits, but when treatment needs are necessary, nitrous helps ease the process.
There are many benefits of offering oral sedation to patients who have a dental phobia. Oral conscious sedation can affect each patient differently, but most people feel relaxed or sleepy throughout their dental appointments. Patients have little to no memory of the procedure. In most cases, if the patient has an extensive treatment plan, the dentist can do much more in one appointment when the patient is sedated. Since patients are more relaxed during the procedure, it reduces the number of appointments required.
Many patients let their dental health go because of fear. They don’t even know this is an option to achieve this comfort level in their dental procedures. Being able to offer this service to our community has helped us grow. We’re focusing on getting the word out to our current and new patients about new sedation options. We are excited to be able to expand our procedures!
About the Author
Courtney Allen graduated with her degree in science in 2011. She became a dental assistant through the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) and joined a family dental practice. Five years later, she realized she wanted to make a change within the dental community and had a passion for insurance, specifically working with patients to access the best dental care possible. Since then, she’s been with Surf City Dental and enjoys being able to help patients financially fit dental care into their monthly budget. Courtney has been a member of AADOM since 2018, and she received her MAADOM, Master of Dental Office Management, in 2023.
