If you are a patient who must experience sedation dentistry, how do you ever know when you have the right sedation dentists working on your mouth? Going through the usual procedure, where a dentist simply numbs your gums with Novocain, might not qualify as experience for a more complex procedure.
There are some serious questions you can ask your dentist, however, that should help settle any questions of competence or professionalism and allay your fears about your procedure.
- Ask what percentage of patients has dental problems like yours. If your dentist says a small percentage, you might opt for another professional to handle your procedure. You can always continue to see your dentist for routine visits and cleanings, so the relationship does not have to end if you really like him.
- Ask if the dentist is affiliated with any local hospitals. While it might seem a bit out of the ordinary to ask such a question, it might tell you if the dentist is qualified to perform a procedure like IV sedation dentistry, in which medication is injected directly into the bloodstream through the veins. Do not feel embarrassed to ask this. No professional will be offended. Oral sedation dentistry can offer just as many risks as sedation for other kinds of surgery and should be taken just as seriously.
- Ask what kinds of sedation methods are available to you. If your dentist does the same sedation for every single patient, it is time to look elsewhere for help. Conscious sedation dentistry should be offered with options. Each patient is a different person with a different need. Your dentist should be able to address any of those needs. While he might need to be a one-stop-shop in order to keep you as a patient, he should not be a one-size-fits-all dentist. If so, he does not believe in individualization.
- See if the dentist can make a proper recommendation if you were not to use his services. Does he have partnerships with other dentists in your city, or is he knowledgeable enough about his colleagues to make a proper referral? If not, you might consider changing dentists. Sedation dentists might be slightly competitive with one another in order to stay in business. Those who are in it for the right reasons, however, realize that there is an inherent comradely among professionals that promotes sedative dentistry and puts the patient first. The future of sedation in dentistry will always depend on how well all the players embrace this concept.
Sedation dentistry is a specialized enough field that dentists must also consider that they have patients with special needs. Those with real (or imagined) anxieties present a different set of challenges. Root canals, full mouth reconstruction and gum disease are just three of the many reasons to seek a dentist who can competently perform this kind of work. The first task, however, is up to the patient: find the right dentist.