Finding the right sedation dentist for a special needs patient is always a daunting task. It’s made even more daunting these days by the number of practitioners who claim expertise in sedation dentistry, an emerging mode of dental treatment that can be very beneficial for medically compromised and disabled patients.
You’ve undoubtedly heard radio advertisements or seen other promotions that promise that a patient can, with the help of a “simple pill,” sleep through his or her treatment. But these promises can be misleading, says San Francisco dentist, Dr. David Blende, one of the nation’s foremost special needs dentists and an expert who has offered patients a full spectrum of sedation for more than 20 years. “Indeed, the use of the term ‘sleep dentistry’ is illegal in some states.”
Sedation dentistry can unburden and transform the lives of special needs patients by restoring smiles and making the acts of chewing and eating pleasurable again. Special needs dentists also embrace the use of sedation because it has meant they can readily avoid and abandon the use of physical restraints and restore dignity to all their patients, even those most intolerant of treatment. After having complex work done by a sedation dentist, patients can often return to their local family dentists for routine dental appointments.
Yet, Dr. Blende recommends that before you arrange treatment for your mother with Alzheimer’s or your daughter with Down syndrome, arm yourself with the basic facts about sedation dentistry and plan to interview a prospective sedation dentist with the questions listed below.
Sedation Dentistry & Special Needs
The emerging use of sedation dentistry will change the way many of us think about the dreaded dental chair. While dentists have long used Novocaine to numb nerves and prevent pain, dentistry has lagged behind medicine in its use of sedation, or relaxants, to help patients endure uncomfortable and nerve-wracking procedures. Today, many dentists can prescribe a “simple pill,” usually Valium or Halcion, for patients who want to be relaxed and less cognizant of dental work during their appointments. Together with nitrous oxide or “laughing gas,” these are often the only sedatives so-called sedation experts offer.
For those of us who get nervous about dental appointments, mild relaxant medications make routine check-ups and dental work much less bothersome. However, it’s important to note that mild sedatives such as Valium or Halcion, when properly dosed, do not induce sleep. Patients who need to sleep through treatment—people who are profoundly afraid of dental treatment, who are medically compromised or developmentally disabled, or who need extensive dental work done—will not be not well served by these limited sedation options.
Only a select few dentists nationwide, including the Blende Dental Group and a number of university-based hospital dentistry programs, offer the full spectrum of sedation—which includes sleep-inducers such as intravenous and general anesthesia.
Fortunately, these select practitioners know each other well and readily refer patients to each other, depending on a patient’s location and mobility. In Dr. Blende’s case, he and a team of specialists including endodontists (root canal specialists), periodontists (gum disease specialists) and anesthesiologists (pain relief specialists), routinely perform full-mouth rehabilitation under general anesthesia in a hospital setting. Together with his sedation dentist, a patient can choose the form of sedation that best suits his case and is not limited to a pill or laughing gas.
In part 2 of this article, we will review the critical questions to ask before you select a sedation dentist.
The Blende Dental Group offers Sleep and Sedation Dentistry for fearful, phobic, and special needs patients. To learn more about sedation dentistry, download a free copy of the The Consumer’s Guide To Sleep & Sedation Dentistry. To speak with a patient care coordinator or to schedule an appointment with a sedation dentist, call 1-800-575-3375.
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