When it comes to dental treatments there can be some discomfort at times, depending on the type of work being done. In most cases dentists would use a local anaesthetic to try to minimise the amount of pain felt by a patient, but there are times when complete sedation may be necessary to finish the procedure.

Here are a few examples of when you may need to go through sedation dentistry in Edinburgh.

Patients with a low pain threshold

As mentioned previously, there can be some discomfort felt during procedures and whilst most patients can tolerate a little pain, there may be those that struggle with it. The mouth is a very sensitive area and for patients that may have a low pain threshold or have a phobia about pain, then sedation may be a viable option to complete the necessary treatment.

Children

As you grow, you start to build up a natural tolerance to certain levels of pain and because of that you can tolerate a lot more discomfort than those that are younger. Patients that are children are naturally more sensitive to pain and discomfort and can find it a lot harder to tolerate, so they begin to cry, scream and become stressed or traumatised by the event.

To counter this a dentist may use a general anaesthetic to make the process easier to handle for younger patients.

Excessive fidgeters

The last thing your dentist needs, as they try to complete a finicky manoeuvre with one of their tools, is you fidgeting around – as the less you move, the easier it is for a dentist to complete a procedure.

In these types of scenarios a dentist may use a type of anaesthetic to relax you, instead of completely sedating you, in order to reduce the excessive fidgeting and moving around, to make finishing the treatment a little less difficult.

Patients with anxiety

One of the more common cases for the use of sedation dentistry is if a patient is struggling with anxiety during or before a treatment that may feature some discomfort.

In order to reduce any potential stress that may be placed on someone during a treatment they may feel a little nervous about, a dentist may use a sedative to relax or completely ‘knock-out’ that person before they begin.

Overly sensitive teeth

Sensitive teeth can be a nightmare, not just because it means you need to watch how hot or cold your meals are, it can also make just touching the tooth incredibly painful at times. This can make performing treatments a lot harder for a dentist, as they will inevitably need to touch a patient’s teeth depending on the procedure involved.

In the case of sensitive teeth though, a local anaesthetic may be used first to lower any discomfort, but if that has no effect a more general sedative may be involved at a future appointment.

These are just a few cases of when you would be able to qualify for being sedated at a dental practice. If you have any further questions about this practice or would like to find out if you could be a candidate, then get in touch with your local practice.