Safe Sedation Solutions

Sleep through your next dental appointment!

The calming environment and friendly team at The Colony Dentist help put our patients immediately at ease.  In fact, Dr. David Hubbell is especially well-known for his easygoing demeanor and calming chairside manner, which helps even the most anxious patients feel comfortable and confident in the care they will receive.

However, we understand that many people suffer from dental anxiety, which can make any visit to the dentist’s office nerve-wracking.  For our patients who feel nervous or uneasy, we have a number of safe and effective sedation dentistry options available at The Colony Dentist to help them relax. 

With a number of anesthesia and sedation dentistry options available at The Colony Dentist, dental anxiety is no longer a worry for our patients.  If you have been postponing necessary dental treatment or putting off the cosmetic dentistry you have always wanted as a result of dental phobia or anxiety, there is hope. 

What are the benefits of sedation dentistry?

Sedation Dentistry is Safe: You will not be unconscious, but will merely be in a deeply relaxed state. No intravenous tubes or needles are required.

Sedation Dentistry is Pain-Free: You will feel no pain while in the dental chair and you will have little to no memory of the experience.

Sedation Dentistry is Flexible: Depending on the treatment you require, sedation dentistry can help you remain relaxed for two to six hours.

Complex Dental Treatments can be Completed in Just One Visit: Dr. Hubbell can replace crowns or bridges, place veneers, improve the health of your gums, and whiten your teeth while you remain comfortably relaxed.

If you would like to learn more about sedation dentistry at The Colony Dentist, right here in Texas, contact us today to schedule your consultation so you can get the Dental Care you need!.

Nitrous Oxide

Many of our patients feel sufficiently calmed when we administer nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.  Nitrous oxide is a great way for our patients to unwind during treatment, and when it is properly administered, the effects wear off quickly enough that the patient can drive him - or herself home. 

What are the advantages of nitrous oxide?

• Nitrous oxide works very rapidly - it reaches the brain within 20 seconds, and relaxation and pain-killing properties develop after 2 or 3 minutes.
• The depth of sedation can be altered from moment to moment, allowing the person who administers the gas to increase or decrease the depth of sedation. Other sedation techniques don't allow for this. For example, with IV sedation, it's easy to deepen the level of sedation, but difficult to lessen it. Whereas with gas, the effects are almost instant.
• Other sedation techniques have a fixed duration of action (because the effects of pills or intravenous drugs last for a specific time span), whereas gas can be given for the exact time span it's needed for. It can also be switched off when not needed and then switched on again (though to avoid a roller-coaster effect, you shouldn't do this too abruptly).
• There's no "hangover" effect - the gas is eliminated from the body within 3 to 5 minutes after the gas supply is stopped. You can safely drive home and don't need an escort.
• With nitrous oxide, it's easy to give incremental doses until the desired action is obtained (this is called "titration"). So the administrator has virtually absolute control over the action of the drug, preventing the possibility of accidental overdoses. While giving incremental doses is possible with IV sedation, it's not possible with oral sedation (as a result, oral sedation can be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair).
• For certain procedures - those involving gums rather than teeth (e. g. deep cleaning) - it may be possible to use nitrous instead of local anaesthesia. N2O acts as a painkiller on soft tissues such as gums. However, its pain-relieving effects vary a lot from person to person and can't be relied upon.
• No injection is required. In cases of very severe needle phobia, getting laughing gas first can help you feel relaxed enough to allow the needle required for IV sedation to be inserted in your arm or hand. The very deep state of sedation achievable through IV sedation will then allow you to accept local anaesthetic.
• Inhalation sedation is very safe. It has very few side effects and the drugs used have no ill effects on the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain.
• Inhalation sedation has been found to be very effective in eliminating or at least minimizing severe gagging.

Oral-Conscious

The next level of sedation, known as oral-conscious sedation, has become increasingly popular.  Commonly referred to as sedation, or “sleep” dentistry, this method involves the administration of prescription medications to our patients just before treatment.  Oral sedation dentistry at The Colony Dentist enables our Texas patients to reach a deeper state of sedation than is possible with nitrous oxide, allowing them to remain conscious yet anxiety-free.  When we employ this method, our patients are often able to undergo multiple treatments or procedures in one visit.  Sedation dentistry makes smile makeovers and other cosmetic enhancements and restorative dentistry procedures much more comfortable and convenient, and it also saves our patients time by reducing the number of visits they must make to our office.

Many people have a fear of needles, have difficulty getting numb,  or have a bad gag reflex, all these people can be helped through conscious sedation. These are a few of the problems that people encounter which will prevent them from seeking the Dentistry that they need. 

When someone is sedated and relaxed it is possible to complete a large amount of complex dental treatment during a single visit to the dentist. People often have little or no memory of their dental visit.

If you exhibit any of the following characteristics, "Oral Conscious Sedation Dentistry" may help you:

• Fear Stress and Anxiety about going to the Dentist
• People who desire a beautiful and natural smile and have fear and anxiety associated with dentistry
• Fear of needles
• You are hard to get numb
• Dental Phobia
• A history of bad dental experiences
• Painful or sensitive teeth
• Afraid to go to the Dentist
• You are troubled with a bad gag reflex
• Difficulty controlling movement from conditions such as Cerebral Palsy or Parkinson's disease 
• You need complex treatment requiring long dental appointments
• People who have limited time to complete their required treatment and want to accomplish a lot in a single appointment. Treatment requiring multiple visits can often be accomplished in a single visit.