Sleep
Dentistry

Sleep Dentistry

It’s common to feel stressed or anxious about your dental procedure. For some people, though, feeling overwhelmingly anxious about your visit, or suffering a phobia is debilitating. This can stop some people from receiving the dental treatment they need, causing them to live with unnecessary pain unnecessarily or risk their overall health by not maintaining their oral health.

If this is your experience, or if you have had a bad experience at the dentist before that makes you nervous, then stress no more, sedation dentistry may be the option for you.

Coogee Plaza Dental completely understand that you might feel overwhelmed or stressed about your procedure and offer a variety of sedation options to help you get through your appointment or treatment with minimal emotional strain or anxiety.

Sedation options can also eliminate discomfort during your treatment and reduce pain following your dental work.

In the case of emergency dental treatment, sedation can be very helpful in helping you to relax and rest following the trauma that has led you to make your emergency appointment.

Tried, tested and effective sedation options offered by the team at Coogee Plaza Dental include oral medication, nitrous oxide, twilight or intravenous sedation and sleep dentistry.

Nitrous Oxide Sedation

If you need a little bit of assistance to make it through your dental appointment, nitrous oxide gas is a very simple and safe option for cosmetic dental treatments, restorative procedures or general dentistry. Known as ‘happy gas’ or ‘laughing gas’ nitrous oxide helps to control anxiety, relieves discomfort and minimises you gag reflex during your procedure. It often gives you a euphoric feeling, hence the nick-names.

It’s very simple to use as well. During your treatment, you will be given a breathing mask to deliver the gas while you breathe normally. The gas takes 2-3 minutes to take effect, leaving you conscious, but calm and relaxed. Unlike other options, you are fully conscious and there is minimal down time following your appointment, which is great for busy schedules. You won’t need a friend or family member to accompany you to your appointment either.

The caring team at Coogee Plaza Dental offer nitrous oxide gas with treatments to help reduce your anxiety and discomfort from your treatment.

Oral Sedation

The most common and convenient option for sedation is oral sedation. If you are prone to anxiety prior to your dental appointment, your dentist can prescribe you oral sedation liquid or tablets that are generally take an hour before your appointment. These combine pain relieve and anti-anxiety medication to help you stay calm during your treatment or procedure.

Due to the effects of oral sedation, you may need to have a friend or family member to help you get home safely and keep an eye on you for a few hours following your treatment.

Twilight Dentistry

Twilight sedation, intravenous sedation or IV sedation dentistry is a method of sedation where medication is given through an injection just prior to your dental procedure. In this situation you will feel as though you are asleep but will still be conscious. The sedation helps you to be relaxed when you undergo your dental procedure and you will not remember anything following. This is a great option for if you have to have multiple procedures completed in one sitting.

When the procedures are finished, you will wake up feeling as though no time has passed and you will not be aware of any pain, discomfort or part of the treatment that was completed.

Twilight sedation can be administered outside a hospital and you will not need an anaesthetist to attend your appointment. Your recovery period from the sedation is quite quick, generally 20 – 30 minutes following the procedure. After the recovery time, you can go home, but you will need a friend or family member to help you get home safely and care for you for the next few hours. You can return to your normal routine within 24 hours.

Sleep Dentistry

Sleep dentistry is the strongest form of sedation dentistry. It is used for those people who have severe phobias or aversions to dental work and need the strongest sedation in order to complete their treatment. Under a sleep dentistry sedation option, you will need a qualified anaesthetist to monitor you during your treatment.

Following the anaesthetist administering your sedation, you will be able to follow basic commands and breathe on your own, however you will seem as though you are in a very deep sleep. You will have no memory of the procedure or the time it has taken to complete. You will feel drowsy following your treatment, and it will take a little while to wear off.

Make sure you have a friend or family member available to help you get home safely and also to keep an eye on you for a few hours following your treatment.

This sedation option takes a little bit to organise, as it involves having an anaesthetist at your appointment and may also require specialised equipment. Make sure you speak to your dentist well in advance of your appointment if you think you will need this option.

Payment Options for Dental Treatments with Sedation

The cost of sedation with your dental appointment will vary depending on the type of sedation you need.

At Coogee Plaza Dental, we are preferred providers with HBF and HCF and accept all recognised health funds. We also offer a HICAPS option, meaning you can claim your rebate immediately. All you will have to pay on the day is any gap payment for treatment outside your level of cover.

If you don’t have dental options in your health cover or don’t have private health insurance, our caring and helpful team can offer payment plans to ensure you get the dental care you need now and pay it off in small, manageable payments over time.

If you think you will need sedation for your appointment, let our caring team know and we will discuss dentistry sedation options with you and help you decide which is best for you.

Don’t put up with dental pain any longer, or risk negative health impacts due to poor dental health. Call our team today to book your appointment.