Houston Sedation dentist

If you suffer from dental anxiety, you aren’t alone. There are reports that as many as one-third of people in the United States suffer from dental anxiety.

The source of this anxiety is often a traumatic dental experience in childhood from a painful dental visit, or a dentist who didn’t seem to care if they hurt you or not.

Here at The Houston Dentists, we understand and we’re here to help. Both Dr. Hedge and Dr. Frazar, along with our on-staff periodontist, are trained sedation dentists, and we have a full range of options for treating you, from simple relaxation techniques, to conscious sedation dentistry where you will likely not even remember your appointment.

Sedation Dentistry Safety

Safety is an important issue when you are being seen by a sedation dentist.

• Dr. Hedge and Dr. Frazar are trained with the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation, and stay up-to-date with all of the safety issues associated with sedation.
• They have oral sedation permits from the Texas State Dental Board, and have nearly twenty years of experience with these techniques.

For maximum safety, they practice what is called “conscious sedation dentistry.” This is different from the general anesthesia you would receive in a hospital, in that you are not unconscious. Thus, your normal body functions, such as breathing and heart rate are largely unaffected. Safety reflexes, such as coughing to clear your airway, are also unaffected. However, you are very relaxed and sleepy, and patients typically don’t even remember their appointments.

As an extra measure of safety, we continuously monitor your vital functions with a pulse oximeter to assure that your blood is circulating enough oxygen. With all of these precautions, we have never really had a safety incident in our office.

The Sedation Dentistry Technique

After you indicate to us that you would like us to use sedation dentistry for your treatment, you will be provided with a pill to take before your appointment.

• This medication will make you relaxed and sleepy, and indifferent to what is going on around you.
• You will be able to respond to requests to open or close your mouth, or other simple requests.
• However, afterwards, you may not remember anything about the appointment.
• You will need to have someone accompany you to the appointment and take you home afterwards, because it will not be safe for you to drive.

Other Treatment Options

We also offer nitrous oxide gas, which is a mild relaxant that is popular for dental appointments. Its chief advantage is that, since it is a gas that enters and comes out of your system quickly, you recover almost immediately and can drive home, or go back to work.