To continue discussing the previously mentioned issue related to increasing number of people who suffer from severe dental phobias, we’d like to talk about another very effective technique to calm down stresses and fears related to visiting a dentist. Many modern dental clinics and dental offices are offering their clients an interesting approach to treating those patients who fear of dentists: sedation dentistry.

As it becomes apparent from its name, sedation dentistry involves giving a certain sedative medication to a patient before starting actual dental treatment. Usually, a sedative is administered orally (as a pill) or intravenously. Specialists define two types of sedation dentistry techniques: conscious SD (when the patient remains awake and aware about what’s going on during the procedure) and unconscious (or sleep) SP (when the patient remains asleep during the procedure).

Actually, there are three levels or types of sedation dentistry. The first one embraces applying Nitrous Oxide, known also as ‘laughing gas’ which is believed to help patient feel more relax and establish a good connection and trust between the patient and the dental specialist. Oral conscious sedation is the second level. It involves giving the patient a special pill, which slows down metabolism of the patient and his responses slow down substantially. Oral conscious sedation
pill makes patients feel a little drowsy and considerably less sensitive to pain and discomfort linked to dental procedures.

Finally, the third type of sedation dentistry approach is called Intravenously Administered (IV) sedation. It mean using a small line in order to administer a medication and keep the patients, who have severe fears and cases of dental phobias, asleep during the whole period of the procedure. It is reported that all these three approaches work fine for the majority of the patients and can be used regardless of the type of dental procedure: a missing tooth replacement, tooth restoration, dental filling placing and so on. Ask for more information in your local dental clinics and dental offices.

Tags: dental phobias, sedation dentistry

Posted: September 17th, 2010 under Dental Care for Every Day.
Comments: 2

Lots of people are terrified only with one thought about visiting their dentists. Mostly, they are afraid of pains, numbness, swelling and other types of discomfort which come when anesthesia is gone, but many also shiver while hearing a sound of a dental drilling device. Also, it is especially hard for those patients who are allergic or can not tolerate anesthesia, and their dental phobias are really disturbing. That is why millions of people avoid visiting their dentists on a regular basis, making public dental care go worse and the number of dental problems increased.

Fortunately, German dentists found an interesting solution for reducing the occurrence and negative effects of dental phobias. The specialists at the German Society of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy (DGH) offer modern dental clinics and dentists try using hypnosis to calm down fears and anxiety of their patients. According to the reviews of DGH specialists, this dental hypnosis can be effectively used to increase the quality of dental services as well, because in most situations dental specialist can feel patient’s anxiety and fears, therefore he or she gets tense and sometimes can’t do the job well. That is why dental hypnosis is beneficial for the dentist as well giving him better opportunity to focus.

Stephan Eitner, the President of the DGH says: “Concentration is the first thing we do. The dentist speaks with the patient in a way that diverts the patient’s thoughts from anxieties and focuses them inward, he said, comparing the mental state with “daydreaming“. Other German specialists, like Georg Duenzl, a board member of  the Milton Erickson Society for Clinical Hypnosis (MEG), find this approach very interesting and promising. However, everyone underlines that additional research is necessary to study possible reactions of the patients on the personal or environmental factors.  In particular, it is considered that dental hypnosis will not work for the patients with mental disorders, because their behavior under hypnosis is very hard to predict.

Tags: dental hypnosis, dental phobias

Posted: August 24th, 2010 under Dental Care for Every Day.
Comments: none

Many of us frequently use sugar-free products with the aim to protect our teeth from harmful effects of sugar. Especially, parents like giving sugar-free bars and products to their children in order to lower the risks of damaging children’s teeth. However, the specialists ring the bells saying that such products are very often overfilled with acidic and other types of additives, which can be not less but even more harmful to our teeth than sugar. The same can be said about sugar-free drinks.

When choosing a product in the markets or shops, modern consumers usually look ate sugar content. But they do not realize that other ingredients can also be as bad. The specialists tested more than 85 popular sugar-free snacks, including the ones of such popular brands as Kellogg‘s and Nestle. It turned our that all of those products have harmful acidic elements, and the same can be said about commercial orange juice. Brad Schmitt, a nutritionist, comments on the study: “Kids love their muesli bars and fruit snacks but parents should limit them to be a once-a-week treat.”

Acid damage is sometimes more dangerous than sugar damage, because it not only weakens the enamel and erodes the minerals in it. It also extremely increases teeth sensitivity and makes tooth enamel more vulnerable for harmful activity of sugars. Many specialists consider acid erosion even more dangerous than damage  from sugar as the former causes enamel demineralization, and the latter is more likely linked to cavities and tooth decay. That is why we all should be careful of consuming sugar-free foods thinking that the risks of damaging teeth are minimized.

Tags: acid erosion, sugar-free foods, tooth enamel

Posted: July 19th, 2010 under Dental Care for Every Day.
Comments: none