Society Journal

Sedation dentistry in DC is what a lot of dentists are using in order to accommodate patients who are afraid of the dentist yet can no longer put off their dental work.  Sedation dentistry is a process in which the dentist puts the patient to “sleep” or in a near state of sleep so that they are calmer and do not flail around while the dentist is trying to work on them.  This is a much safer situation for both the dentist and the patient because many sharp instruments are used during dental procedures.

Many dental college students who are going through dental school today are being trained on how to use sedation dentistry which is making a comeback from the 70s and 80s in which it was used regularly; however it stopped being used after several dentists were accused of abusing their patients while they were under the sedation. There are now safeguards in place so that this does not happen, for example a dental hygienist is always in the room when a dentist is working on a patient so there are always two people along with the patient; in addition, many of the new dental offices have open plans in which there are no doors and the walls are short, cubicle style so other people can see what is going on.

The best dentist in DC area will use sedation dentistry on people who are petrified of the dentist and are worried about the drilling, scraping and other parts of the procedures.  Sedation dentistry can mean anything from putting a patient in a state of sleep-like or having them in a most relaxed state in which they laugh at almost everything – some people refer to sedation as laughing gas or nitrous oxide.  Whichever state of mind the patient is in when using sedation dentistry, it is safer for both the patient and the dentist because the patient will not be flailing around and accidentally hit the dentist or cut themselves on a sharp instrument because they are afraid and trying to move the dentist hand away from their mouth.