Your Local Area - Pediatric Sedation Dentistry

Enjoy Your Dentists and the Dentistry Your Parents Never Had

What did your parents tell you about going to the dentist? Did they talk about how your dentists could help you take care of your teeth, gums and even your smile? Instead, they probably emphasized the negative: "It won't hurt much," or "Your toothache will be gone."

For most of us, the stories we heard about visiting dentists described how the person in the white jacket helped relieve tooth pain. We didn't hear about the dentists creating opportunities for good dental health and an attractive bright smile.

Comparing the dentistry your parents knew with the new dentistry that has emerged over the past ten to fifteen years is like comparing the computers of the 1950's with today's powerful desktop machines. The differences are vast. Yet, as dental care consumers, most of us have not updated our old stories. You haven't added new chapters about the great possibilities for dental care and dental well-being that the new dentistry offers.

You can experience these new possibilities for oral and dental health by creating partnerships with your dentists and their dental teams. You can take advantage of innovations and advances in:

• Treatment technologies and equipment
• Specialization
• New materials
• Preventive techniques
• Scientific knowledge
• Cosmetic enhancements like invisible fillings
• Integrated multi-specialty treatment teams

Today's dental care teams have the knowledge, skills and information to help create a positive dental health future. A partnership is based on communication and mutual responsibility, and you can actively foster that first communication.

You can begin to partner with your dentists and their dental care teams by:

• Asking about advancements in treatment technologies and materials.
• Finding out what steps you can take to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
• Creating a positive dental future through the recommended steps of flossing and brushing.
• Taking an active role in contacting your dentists and dental care team at the first sign of any concern about teeth or gums.
• Using your curiosity to make sure you understand the reasons for a referral to a specialist such as a periodontist or endodontist and the outcomes your dentists are seeking.

Your parents didn't have the choices or the opportunities that you have today for optimal dental health. The new dentistry can create more than a warm bright smile; it can improve your overall health.

The future of your dental health is in your hands just as the future of your bodily health is. Taking steps to increase your knowledge about the new dentistry will provide great benefits for you today and tomorrow.

By Brian DesRoches, PhD

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

Sedation Dentistry: The New Anxiety-Free Dentistry

It's called sedation dentistry (performed by a specially trained dentist called a sedation dentist), and it may well be the greatest advance ever made towards truly comfortable and anxiety free dentistry procedures.

For a lot of people, the unpleasantness of a dental appointment isn't so much fear as it is stress from that "in-your-face" aspect of the procedure.

We all have our own sense of personal space. And when hands and tools enter the mouth, as they must, the feeling can get downright claustrophobic. Fortunately, there's an antidote to this problem, anxiety-free dentistry!

Here's how sedation dentistry works

After an initial consultation with a sedation dentist you'll take a medication just before your next visit. You'll need a friend to help transport you to and from the office safely.

When you arrive for your appointment you'll be awake, but drowsy. Most important, you'll be relaxed and anxiety free. While you're in the chair, the sedation dentist and team monitors you closely. You won't be unconscious, you'll just enjoy a soothing mental and emotional "distance" from the goings on.

Next thing you'll know, your dentist is telling you the procedure is complete and it is time to go home - thanks to anxiety-free dentistry.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.