At Bayou Dental Group, we consider Monroe, LA, and the surrounding area to be part of our community. As dental professionals, we care about the oral health of every member of our community.
But we know that we aren’t able to help everyone. One of the reasons why is dental anxiety.
Dental anxiety can be unpleasant for anyone who is experiencing it, and that’s probably an understatement.
According to experts, millions of Americans avoid the dentist as a result of their anxiety. This increases their risk of developing serious oral health issues.
We want to help you prevent those problems. We also want to help you find a way to manage your anxiety about visiting our office.
This is why we offer sedation dentistry for our patients.
A Visit To The Dentist
Let’s say you were coming to our office for a cleaning and examination. This is the basis for preventive dental care.
When you walk in the door, you are greeted by a member of our friendly staff.
When your name is called, you are taken to one of our patient rooms. We may take X-rays of your teeth to look for signs of tooth decay and to check for any changes to your alignment.
A dental hygienist will remove any tartar or plaque build-up on your teeth. She also may use dental floss to clean between your teeth and gums, and then finish by polishing your teeth.
If we find something that needs to be addressed, we may numb part of your mouth so we can fix the problem without causing you pain.
When you are finished, you may schedule your next appointment before heading back to your daily life.
If you don’t have dental anxiety, that may have sounded like a routine trip to the dentist.
But if you do struggle with fear of the dentist, you may have felt anxious just reading those sentences.
Maybe your anxiety is due to a fear of needles. Maybe you feel anxious when a dental professional gets the tools ready to clean your mouth.
Maybe just sitting in the chair or walking through the door gets your heart racing.
We want you to know that it’s OK. We treat patients nearly every day who struggle with dental anxiety. Some of them take advantage of our comfort options to relax, and others use dental sedation to get through their treatment.
Whatever approach will help you is the approach we want to use.
A Dental Visit With Oral Sedation
Here’s what your dental visit could be like with oral conscious sedation.
A family member or a friend comes to your house. This person drives you to our office and walks in with you to provide support.
Before you go back to the patient rooms, you will take a pill. This pill contains medication that will help you relax and remain calm throughout your visit.
We will give the pill time to take effect, which will include you feeling drowsy or falling asleep.
The next thing you may remember is waking up at home in your bed. Your family member or friend is in the living room watching television because they drove you home from the dentist office.
You may not remember any of your dental care, and what you do recall may be spotty, like parts of a dream.
What you do know is that your teeth are clean and your mouth is healthy.
If that sounds like a more pleasant dental experience, then you may want to schedule a consultation with our dentist.
Why A Consultation?
While we would love for you to make your return to the dentist office with us, it may help if you visit us in a lower stress situation first.
During a consultation, you are not committing to anything, but you do will the opportunity to get to know our dentist, Dr. Finley, to meet other members of our staff, and to ask questions about our approach to dental care — including dental sedation.
We have found that understanding what can happen and why we do things is one way to help our patients relax.
If you feel like scheduling an appointment at the end of your consultation, we can help you find a time that works with your schedule.
If you feel you need more time to prepare for a dental cleaning, that’s OK, too. When you are ready, you can always call Bayou Dental Group at 318-323-9303 or contact our Monroe, LA, dentist office by filling out our online form.