With Halloween around the corner, now seems like the opportune time to bring up a scary subject—seeing the dentist. If the mere thought of dental treatment sends chills down your spine and causes you to delay or completely avoid dental care, then Dr. L. Blaine Kennington and the team at Cowlitz River Dental in Castle Rock, WA, can help. No matter how severe your dental anxiety or phobia may be, we offer three types of sedation dentistry and one is sure to calm your nerves.
Comfortable Care with the Sedation Dentist You can Trust
Cowlitz River Dental offers a complete menu of dental services: general, restorative and cosmetic dentistry; dental implants and oral surgery; root canal therapy, periodontal therapy and orthodontic treatment. Whether you need a basic dental cleaning and exam or one or more extensive procedures to restore your healthy smile, Dr. Kennington can offer the appropriate sedation dentistry to allay your fears.
One of the most popular and commonly used sedation treatments is nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas. With this form of sedation dentistry, a comfortable mask is placed over your nose at the start of your procedure. As you inhale a measured mixture of gas and oxygen, you’ll soon begin to notice a feeling of relaxation wash over your whole body. This sedation may be perfect for patients whose anxiety is mild to moderate or for those who are having a less invasive dental treatment. When the mask is removed, the effects of nitrous oxide wear off quickly, so you can go about your day as usual.
Oral conscious sedation is a stronger sedative than nitrous oxide. In this case, Dr. Kennington prescribes a mild anti-anxiety pill that you’ll take at a pre-determined time before your appointment. Once you take this sedative, you cannot drive. So, be sure to arrange for a friend or family member to take you to our office and home again. By the time you arrive for your treatment, you’ll feel very relaxed. And while you may not remember any part of your appointment, you are in fact conscious throughout your procedure.
Likewise, IV sedation often makes patients feel like they slept through a visit to Cowlitz River Dental. In fact, they are deeply sedated, and we are always able to communicate with patients during treatment. With IV sedation, a sedative enters the bloodstream in order to induce relaxation. This form of sedation dentistry may be ideal for patients who experience severe dental anxiety as well as for patients who need to complete a number of procedures in one appointment.
Call Our Office Today
If you or a family member has been avoiding the dentist for some time, then call Cowlitz River Dental and ask about nitrous oxide, oral conscious sedation or IV sedation. We conveniently serve patients from Castle Rock, WA, as well as the surrounding communities of Silverlake, Toutle, Longview, Kelso, Kalama, Winlock, Toledo, Centralia, Napavine, Chehalis, and Vader.