Northern Virginia Sedation Dentistry - Remove the Bleah, Stoke the Happy

Most of us have memories extending to childhood of visits to the dentist. They’re not always very happy memories, though your regular early dental care went far towards the great smile you’ve got today (especially if you lived through the agony of braces and retainers). Visits to the dentist today are quite a bit more comfortable and efficient, for typical cleansing and routine oral care. The fluoride treatments taste better, the drills aren’t quite as loud, and some offices even provide ceiling mounted TV or Internet access to take your mind off the proceedings (if you’re not texting or dentweeting away).

Many dental procedures, however, still provoke anxiety, fear and legitimate discomfort no matter how comfortable the dentist’s chair is, how reassuring your dentist is, or how ergonomically advanced the oral care or surgical instruments and tools are. After all, your teeth and gums are very sensitive, most significant procedures require a lot of intrusive, painful activity in your mouth, and it’s really hard to ignore the high-pitched drills and associated sounds of uncomfortable, invasive foreign machinery in your head. Suction, please – now rinse and spit. Bleah.

No wonder “sedation dentistry” is now quickly building a popular following among the legions of us who truly fear and loathe the dental visit, regardless of the extent of work to be done. Sedation dentistry in DC and Northern Virginia is used to provide a relaxing and anxiety-free experience for certain people receiving dental treatment, enabling those who may be too afraid to go to the dentist to receive the dental care they need, while avoiding a common apprehension called “dental phobia”. You’re actually happy to be there – and certainly feel good about the results.

Sedation is a process used to establish a relaxed, easy and calm state through the use of sedatives. Sedative drugs (tranquilizers, depressants, anti-anxiety medications, nitrous oxide, etc.) can be administered in a variety of ways. Patients do have alternatives to the traditional methods of inhalation (nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”) and IVs – a "no needle” (meaning, no injection) approach very commonly used for oral sedation tends to appeal to most people. The medications create such a comfortable experience that most patients don’t remember the visit; it’s as if they slept through the whole treatment (this is very helpful for longer and more complicated procedures, and can reduce the number of successive procedures required – i.e. the “Teeth in a Day” concept, a real time-saver). However, oral sedation dentistry does require an appropriate level of consciousness in the patient for proper medical safety and cooperation.

As one of the pioneers of sedation dentistry in Northern Virginia, Dr. Winkler with our friends over at the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry in Burke have helped thousands of people overcome their fears and create many new, healthy smiles :). Dr. Winkler’s passion for helping people has revolutionized the art and science of sedation dentistry and greatly contributed to the evolution of the overall anesthesia dentistry field. Dr. Winkler is on the cutting edge of implant dentistry in the DC area, and has been placing dental implants for 20 years. He has also utilizes the concept of “Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques (MIST),” utilizing lasers and micro-surgical techniques to reduce healing time and provide optimal results with minimal discomfort – a “Total Dental Solutions” outcome.

Find out more about the leading methods, practices and advantages of sedation and anesthesia dentistry in Northern Virginia, by contacting the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry or visiting their website, at http://www.winklersedation.com.