IV Sedation

Are you someone who is quite nervous when thinking about visiting your dentist for a dental procedure? Are you anxious thinking of the pain during dental procedures? Dental phobia is quite common among people of all ages. However, having anxiety about visiting the dentist can delay the treatment and can make the problem even worse. We totally understand you and treat every patient with a lot of care to ensure that your visit is comfortable and easy.

Why do people feel anxious?

Many individuals feel nervous during a dental consultation due to the following reasons:

• Fear of pain: This can be the result of a past, unpleasant dental visit or the experiences shared by others. However, dentistry advancements, including IV sedation, have made the procedures less painful or even pain-free.
• Fear of injections:People with dental phobia can have a high fear of getting injections. We use injections only when we have to administer anesthesia, which is not needed for standard procedures like dental cleaning, fillings, dental exams, teeth whitening, routine consultations, etc.
• Fear of anesthesia: Some patients even have a fear of numbness caused by dental anesthesia. 

Therefore, if you are someone who avoids seeking dental treatment due to anxiety, fear, or discomfort, you are an ideal candidate for sedation dentistry. Sedation dentistry can also help if you struggle with any of the following issues:

• Sensitive teeth
• A sensitive gag reflex
• TMJ Disorders
• Bone, muscle, or joint discomfort
• High tolerance for numbing medications

Benefits of sedation dentistry

Sedation dentistry allows your dentist to provide dental treatments safely and comfortably for patients who have a dental phobia when visiting the dentist. The benefits of sedation dentistry include the following:

• No memory of the procedure
• No sense of time during sedation
• No sense of smell or sound
• No fear or anxiety during the procedure

IV Sedation:

At our dental office, we offer intravenous sedation or IV sedation to manage moderate to severe levels of dental anxiety. During the procedure of administering IV sedation, a combination of sedative drugs and analgesics are administered intravenously into your bloodstream. After administering IV sedation, we will monitor your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure throughout the treatment time to keep you safe and healthy!

Benefits of IV sedation:

• It comes into effect almost instantaneously.
• The dentist can easily control the level and length of sedation.
• Recovery takes only 24 hours with minimum side effects.
• Provides deep relaxation, pain relief, and partial amnesia.
• IV sedation is recommended for long and invasive dental procedures.

Sedation is a crucial part of dentistry. It is used to calm the nerves of the patients and allow them to be seated calm and still in the dental chair during the treatment procedure.

Does insurance cover IV sedation? 

Insurance coverage should be verified through the patient’s provider. Coverage varies depending on both the insurance provider and the plan, so this should be checked in advance.

Schedule an online appointment or call us at 208-664-9129 to have a consultation with Dr. Larson, and we'll be able to guide you further.