At Montz and Maher Dental Group in the Friendswood, TX area, we have heard it all when it comes to cosmetic and general dentistry. If you have claustrophobia, you may forego cave exploration. If you have acrophobia (fear of heights), you avoid sky diving. In either case, you can live a fulfilling life without engaging in these activities. But, what if you have dentophobia? Yes, a fear of the dentist?
Believe it or not, it’s a real issue with an official name. This is different than the phobias mentioned previously because dental visits are critical for maintaining your oral health. It’s simply not a good idea to avoid dental treatment.Yet, many people try to do just that until they have a problem that gets so painful they are forced to white knuckle it through a dental visit. The treatment, for example, may be an extraction that could have been prevented with earlier intervention or preventative procedures.
A dentophobia complex may be accompanied by any of the following:
- Teeth sensitivity
- Fear of needles
- A powerful gag reflex
- Difficulty in controlling body movement
- Difficulty becoming numb with normal injections
If you suffer from severe anxiety about undergoing dental treatment, sedation dentistry just may be the best option for you. Sometimes called relaxation dentistry, oral conscious sedation, sleep dentistry, or anxiety-free dentistry, it has proven to be safe and effective. Sedation dentistry patients can help you to relax or even sleep through dental treatment.
You choose the level of sedation needed:
- Mild sedation: relaxes you while you remain conscious.
- Moderate sedation: provides a deeper level of relaxation with partial consciousness.
- Deep sedation: you are almost entirely unconscious, but can be awakened.
- General anesthesia: this sends you to dreamland from which you awake after it’s over with no memory of the process.
For more information about oral sedation dentistry or any other general or cosmetic dentistry needs in the Friendswood, TX area, please give us a call at Montz and Maher Dental Group.
Contact Montz and Maher Dental Group:
832-895-5120
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
820 S Friendswood Ste 100
Friendswood, Texas
77546