Remember having Gas at the Dentist?

Remember having Gas at the Dentist?

A look at newer innovations for pain management and sedation options.

The older ones amongst us will probably remember having gas at the dentist when they were due to have a tooth extracted. Memories may include the sight of the black rubber mask approaching the face, the smell of the gas, perhaps vivid dreams, often not of the pleasant kind, and finally, as you came round, a woozy sensation and feeling sick.

The above certainly didn’t amount to a pleasant experience, and, in some cases, proved to be potentially dangerous as well.

Modern pain management

Having gas, whilst allowing the dentist to extract a tooth, often did little for the discomfort caused. This would be noticed once you came round with a tooth missing. Thankfully, modern local anaesthetics are now used instead and administered directly into the gum with a needle. These block the pain signals that are sent to the brain from the tooth.

These are highly effective and even invasive dental procedures such as a root canal can be done using a local anaesthetic alone.

Nervous patients

What about those patients though, for whom being unconscious, seemed a good thing, despite the negative side effects? Patients of the Smile Dental Practice of Bromley, who suffer from anxiety about dental visits, are now able to take advantage of a different style of sedation.

Unlike the older style of gas which rendered the patient unconscious, modern sedation takes the form of a tablet or intravenous medication. Both of these methods allow the patient to be fully conscious but totally relaxed. This is of benefit both to the patient and the dentist as it allows communication during the procedure which helps to ensure a comfortable and successful procedure.

If your memories of the dentist are unpleasant, you will find that, over the years, attitudes amongst the dental profession towards nervous patients have changed. Whilst some very old school dentists may have taken a dimmer view of nervous patients, modern dentists, including our highly trained team at Smile Dental Practice, fully understand how some patients feel and will be totally sympathetic.

Our team will help you to relax from the moment that you walk into our practice on Hastings Road to the moment that you leave our dental surgery.

We are happy to discuss any procedures that you may be having so that you know what to expect. We are also very happy to let you have more information about the dental sedation options that we have available.

To contact us, please either fill in the form on our ‘contact us’ page of this website or simply call our Bromley dental surgery on 020 8462 2473.