Can Dental Sedation Become a Crutch?

I’m a little worried about my wife. We’ve only been married two years and she always schedules our dental appointments and then makes an excuse at the last minute as to why she can’t go. Her teeth are fine but I’m worried. I talked to her about it and she admitted she hasn’t been since she left home. Apparently, her dentist was inappropriate with her and she has a bad association with dental care. I was livid, but there’s nothing we can do now. Apparently, he died a few years ago. That’s left my wife in a state of no resolution though. I’ve thought about dental sedation for her but worried it would become a crutch. What do you think?

Carlos

Dear Carlos,

I’m very sorry for what your wife went through. It’s especially hard knowing she feels trapped and there doesn’t seem to be anything you can do for justice. The one thing you can help her do is not letting him control the rest of her life, including her oral health.

Living a healthy, happy life can be her best way to move on. It may be that someone can help her understand she can’t allow him to take any more from her. However, you are needing immediate help for her healthcare.

You are right that she will need to find a way back to the dental chair. Sedation dentistry can be a great help for her done correctly. You’ll need to understand because of her personal experiences, the idea of being under sedation, though helpful to get her through the appointment, may make her feel vulnerable. So, at least in the short-term, you’ll want to be with her during the appointment so she feels protected.

Any dentist with a decent sense of humanity will understand this. If they don’t, it is definitely not the dentist for her.

How Sedation Dentistry Can Help Her

There are a few advantages to sedation in her case:

• Anxiety-free Appointments: The medicine they give her will completely relax her. Most patients sleep through the appointment. She may not until she feels secure. You being there will help that.
• More work can be done at each visit: It sounds like she hasn’t had dental care in quite some time.
  If there’s extensive work which needs to be done with fillings and dental crowns, her dentist may be able to get it all done in one appointment.
• It can give her a renewed sense of dental care, eventually getting her to where she can go without panic.

So, to FINALLY answer your question. While it may seem like a crutch, when something is broken, you need that crutch to heal. Then, when she’s whole and sound, she can go without it.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.