Today’s post is about dental anxiety. More specifically, it’s about dental anxiety as it relates to worries or fears that dental care will be painful. We want to state from the outset that there is nothing wrong if you experience dental anxiety. This affects millions of people across the United States. What we hope, however, is that you are able to manage that anxiety so you can still receive the benefits of general dentistry. At Sunrise Dental, we want everyone in the Triangle to get the quality care they need to keep their mouths healthy. The teams at each of our dentist offices look forward to helping everyone. Please pay us a visit if you live near Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, or Durham. A Welcoming Atmosphere Before we do anything specific procedure, we first want to help you feel comfortable. If you are feeling anxious, we want to help you relax with one or more of the comfort options that we provide for our patients. When you walk through the doors of any of our four offices, you will find friendly, helpful staff members who want to assist you. We also don’t want you to feel rushed. You aren’t just a number at Sunrise Dental. We know all of our patients are different, and we want you to know that you are in control during your procedure. By scheduling a longer appointment, you can feel comfortable asking to take a break during your treatment. This can give you peace of mind just by knowing that you can pause the procedure any time you feel that it would help. You may prefer to distract yourself from your care. This is why we provide televisions in each of our rooms. You can watch one of your favorite shows to take your mind off what your dentist or hygienist is doing. Putting Technology To Use One of the ways we try to help our patients is by implementing technologies that will improve their experience at the dentist office. Some examples of this include digital X-rays, cone beam scanners, and intraoral cameras. The digital X-rays are faster and produce less radiation that older X-ray machines that used film to create their images. Cone beam scanners are more recent development in dental care. With a cone beam scanner, we take multiple images your teeth and the surrounding structures. When those images are combined in a computer, we can create a three-dimensional image of your teeth. This allows us to more carefully and more precisely plan restorative dental procedures. Our intraoral cameras allow us to get a close-up view of your mouth at angles that aren’t possible with standard equipment. This can a valuable tool in examining your mouth and identifying where treatment may be needed. This allows our dentists to provide a focused treatment where it is needed. Pain-Free Dental Care We do everything that we can to make your visit as pain-free and painless as possible. It doesn’t matter if you are coming for a dental cleaning or a root canal treatment. We can perform your procedure without you feeling anything. Some patients are happy receiving a local anesthetic to numb any tooth that needs work as well as the surrounding soft tissues. But we also know that some patients want something stronger. They want something that will eliminate any chance that they will feel anything. In many cases, this will even keep you from remembering anything about your dental care. (You won’t get more relaxed than that.) At our offices, you have the choice between oral conscious sedation and nitrous oxide sedation. Oral sedation is the stronger of these two options. It’s also why you will need someone else to bring you to and from the office if you choose this sedation option. You will take a pill before your treatment begins. The effect will leave you almost completely unaware of what is happening. You won’t feel anything, and you may only remember bits and pieces of your treatment if you remember anything at all. Nitrous oxide, “laughing gas,” is known to create a euphoric sensation. While you are breathing the gas, you will feel no pain and again, you are likely to remember little or nothing about your treatment. With nitrous oxide, your recovery is much faster since all you have to do is exhale of the gas that remains in your system when you are finished. Take The First Step Before you commit to a dental checkup, schedule a consultation. This will give you a chance to visit the office, to meet the staff, and to ask one of our dentists any questions you may have. If after this meeting you are ready to make an appointment, you can call or use our online form to contact us.