/assets/images/provider/photos/2785789.jpeg)
Visiting the dentist can be a nerve-racking experience for many children. Bright lights, unpleasant sounds, and, of course, dental treatments can all be sources of anxiety, interfering with your child’s ability to receive the care they need for healthy teeth and gums.
The good news is that sedation dentistry can help. It can relax your child and dispel fears and worries, making visiting the dentist a more comfortable experience for your child (and you, too).
Richard Blackburn, DMD, MA, is a skilled provider of sedation dentistry for pediatric patients at Volterra Dental, helping children of all ages calm their fears and relax during dental visits. Here, learn five important ways sedation dentistry can benefit your child.
1. Reduces anxiety
Dental anxiety is as real and unpleasant for kids as it is for adults — and since kids have no absolute control over when they see the dentist, the anxiety can be even greater. Sedation helps your child deeply relax, relieving anxiety and providing your child with a much-needed sense of calm.
Sedation can be helpful for any child with dental anxiety, especially for kids who’ve had negative or anxious dental experiences in the past. It’s even a good choice for kids upset by the sights and sounds associated with dental visits.
2. Minimizes discomfort
Our team uses special techniques to keep dental care as pain-free as possible. Still, many kids worry about simple procedures, not to mention needles. Anxiety can make those sensations even worse by diminishing your child’s ability to cope with them.
Sedation dentistry reduces or even eliminates discomfort, depending on the type of sedation used. That means your child can receive the care they need to keep their teeth and gums healthy without experiencing pain and distress. (Keeping your child comfortable can go a long way toward easing your own anxiety about their care, too.)
3. Improves cooperation during care
When children are nervous, they’re more likely to fidget or become inattentive during their visits, making their treatment take longer than necessary. Sedation can help relax your child and help them play a more cooperative and proactive role in their care, resulting in less time in the dental chair.
4. Supports longer procedures
While many common dental treatments, like simple fillings, are relatively quick, more complex treatments can take considerably more time — sometimes even more than one visit. Spending more time in the dental chair can be overwhelming for an anxious child, making it much more challenging to ensure your child gets the care they need for all their oral health needs.
Sedation helps your child relax longer when needed, supporting more complex treatments and eliminating the need for multiple visits. Our team is skilled at administering sedation based on your child’s unique needs and the type of treatment they’re receiving.
5. Sets the stage for a lifetime of better oral health
Your child may change a lot as they grow, but dental anxiety is often an unchanging constant that influences adult oral health habits, too. Research shows negative dental experiences in childhood have a direct bearing on dental anxiety during adulthood.
Data also show that adults with dental anxiety are more likely to put off treatment, leading to an increase in oral health problems, including cavities, gum disease, infections, and tooth loss. Sedation dentistry helps nip dental anxiety in the bud, avoiding early negative associations that can interfere with good oral hygiene during their adult years.
Learn more about sedation dentistry
Dental anxiety is a serious problem, and one that can become much worse over time. Sedation dentistry helps prevent anxiety by “teaching” your child that dental care doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or unpleasant.
To learn more about sedation dentistry and our options, request an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Blackburn and the team at Volterra Dental in Los Alamitos, California, today.