Do you feel worried about visiting the dentist?
If your dental anxieties are stopping you from attending your regular check up appointments or having vital dental treatment, we can help. We understand you may be worried and want to do all we can to reduce your anxiety and make you feel at ease in our care.
How can you help me?
At The White Bridge Clinic, we are dedicated to helping every patient feel comfortable in our practice and happy to undergo dental treatment. We take a caring and gentle approach, slowly building your confidence with simple treatments at first to maintain your oral health. We take the time to get to know you, making sure you are consistently receiving the highest standard of care. We want you to feel as relaxed as possible in our care.
For particularly anxious patients, we offer intravenous sedation to help you access dental treatment.
Intravenous sedation
We offer intravenous sedation for a completely safe and effective way to manage your dental anxiety and make you feel better about undergoing treatment. You remain conscious throughout, and able to communicate with your dentist, but are drowsy and much less aware of what is going on around you. Most patients actually have very little to no recollection of their treatment experience once the sedation has worn off.
Intravenous sedation is gradually delivered through a vein on the back of your hand and does not take long to take effect and begin to relax you. You are monitored closely during your treatment by our experienced dentists. The effects of the sedation can take a little while to wear off, so we recommend arranging for someone to help you get home safely afterwards. Our long-term goal is to build your confidence and trust in us so there comes a time when sedation is not needed for your preventative dental treatments.
Why choose to have sedation?
- Makes you feel completely relaxed and anxiety-free
- Rapid onset of the calming effects
- Level of sedation can be tailored to suit your needs
- Can help you forget the treatment process
- Allows you to communicate with the dentist
Our sedation dentist – Dr Amit Mohindra
Our sedation treatment at The White Bridge Clinic is carried out by our principal dentist, Dr Amit Mohindra. Amit has a special interest in sedation and trained in this area in Newcastle from 2002 – 2004. Since then, he has kept up-to-date with his knowledge with training in Yorkshire Sedation Clinic and the UK Sedation Clinic. Amit is committed to ensuring his patients’ dental needs are achieved and offers intravenous sedation to help them feel at ease if required.
FAQs
Is sedation safe?
Intravenous sedation is completely safe when delivered by a qualified and trained professional. We take patient safety very seriously and make sure you are aware of the sedation process before we begin. As you remain conscious throughout, the risks associated with a general anaesthetic are avoided.
Can I request sedation?
If you feel that you would benefit from sedation to help you feel more able to undergo your dental treatment, please talk to us. We are happy to talk to you about sedation and help you find a way to control your nerves around visiting the dentist.
Will sedation make me go to sleep?
You remain conscious with intravenous sedation, although in a drowsy and relaxed state. It does not put you to sleep in the same way that general anaesthetic does.
What should I do before having sedation?
Before you have intravenous sedation, you should make sure you eat a light meal and small non-alcoholic drinks. Please ensure you take all your routine medication at the appropriate times. You also need to bring a responsible adult with you to your appointment, someone who can help you get home safely afterwards.
Do I still need an anaesthetic injection if I have sedation?
If your dental treatment requires a local anaesthetic to numb an area of your mouth, this is still required even if you are having sedation. However, the anaesthetic is not administered until after the sedation has taken effect, meaning you are very likely not to remember this taking place.
