The procedure of dental implant surgery entails the replacement of tooth roots with screw-like metal posts to replace missing or damaged teeth with artificial ones. Many patients often get apprehensive and scared about the thought of having surgery that might be painful for them to bear.
Well, there’s no need to feel outright afraid or terrified. Before your surgery, your dentist will make sure to discuss all options, and clear any apprehensions or confusion you have regarding the procedure of dental implant surgery. During your consultation, your dentist will evaluate based on your health history, age, and anxiety level of what your best options are regarding anesthesia. Before your surgery, you and your dentist together will decide the safest as well as what will be a comfortable option of anesthesia for you.
Is Anesthesia Necessary for Dental Implant Surgery?
Since the procedure of a dental implant is an oral surgical process, you will be required to be anesthetized in order to keep you calm and easy during the process. Depending upon the number of implants you are getting, your comfort level, and your oral surgeon’s preference, the kind of anesthesia will be decided accordingly.
Types of Anesthesia Used In Dental Implant Surgery
1. Local Anesthesia – After a numbing topical agent is rubbed on your gums, your dentist will administer a local anesthesia to numb the gums and teeth near the area where the dental implant surgery will be performed. The effects of the local anesthesia will last for some hours after which, the effects will wear off. For those patients who feel little anxiety before the surgery, a local anesthesia is the best option for them.
2. Nitrous Oxide/Laughing Gas
Nitrous Oxide is another type of anesthesia which is administered to keep the patient calm during the procedure while alert and awake enough to drive home after the procedure. The dentist uses a mask to allow the patient to breathe in the gas before the dental implant procedure. In this type of anesthesia, the patient is awake during the procedure. It is not advisable for those patients who have respiratory problems or severe lung disease. This is ideal for patients who face mild anxiety and apprehension.
3. General Anesthesia/IV Sedation
Some patients have a high level of anxiety regarding the procedure of a dental implant surgery. They need to be anesthetized for a smooth and successful implantation. In order to calm them down, a dose of general anesthesia will make the patient unaware of the procedure.
Your dentist may suggest IV Anesthesia while taking into consideration, your level of anxiety, your age, and extension of dental treatment needed, and accordingly may suggest general anesthesia. This anesthesia is administered with expertise either at the clinic or at a hospital. It puts the patient out completely for the duration of the procedure. As such, it is absolutely painless and the patient is unaware of the procedure when it is underway. They will not remember what happened during the procedure.
No matter the type of anesthesia, your will have met with your doctor a few times before the actual procedure and will be thoroughly aware of the entire process. Your doctor will also have created a plan that works for you with your concerns and your specific needs. Dental implants can be a very painless and worry-free experience for you. Call Angel Dental of El Monte to make an appointment for a consultation to find out if this procedure is right for you.